In Memoriam
by NekoIllustrations
Summary: Kanda's old friend, previously thought dead, is found...KandaxOC...aw hell, just read it if you want, I don't normally write these. I was bored and started fiddling on the computer.
1. Enter the Labyrinth

**Okay, I don't normally write CharacterxOCs cuz to be honest, I don't like those types of fanfics. But I was fiddling on my computer and I liked what I wrote. So far I think it's pretty good, a few errors, I know, but I honestly wanted to keep typing so I didn't pay attention to those...**

**Anyway, please enjoy.**

* * *

Lenalee walked into her brother's office. She approached the desk and wondered where her brother could possibly be all she saw on his desk were stacks upon stacks of haphazardly placed documents.

"Komui-niisan?" Lenalee said tentatively, "are you there?"

No answer, though there was a slight ruffling noise as the papers shifted slightly. This was enough to convince Lenalee that her brother was sleeping underneath the mountain of documents. She sighed.

"Brother, I'm getting married." The girl blushed as she said the phrase as quietly as she possibly could. Not that it mattered, Komui let out a scream of rejection and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, sobbing and frantically refusing to let her marry anyone. He continued on this tangent, with Lenalee struggling to get freed from his death grip. She finally managed to get enough maneuvering room just as Komui was threatening to destroy every man who ever dared to so much as look at her divine virgin figure. Upon hearing this she lodge the hardest kick she could into his crotch.

Her spastic brother crumpled, crying and demanding an explanation for Lenalee's actions in a high-pitched whine. Lenalee tapped her foot and glared at the man rolling on the floor, clutching his pants and adding to her embarrassment in the process.

"Komui, I'm not getting married; you really need to get over sister complex."

"Sorry, Lenalee," Reever had walked over to see what all the commotion was about. He wasn't exactly surprised when he saw the chief rolling of the floor, "The chief pulled an all-nighter and is consequently going through one of his moods. Anything I can help you with while the buffoon is still on the floor?"

"Actually, Reever, my brother called me for a mission; I came here to get the briefing before heading out."

"I see, here you go," The section leader handed Lenalee a folder, "Why don't wait till you're on the train to read it, that way," he nudged to still crying Asian on the floor, "you can get away from him more quickly."

Lenalee smiled, "thanks, Reever."

* * *

On the train Lenalee was reading her brief.

The Crystal Labyrinth:

Location: Loch Ness, Scotland

Details:

_Three years ago a fisherman reported seeing a shining light while out on his boat. No one thought anything of it as such reports were not uncommon for the area._

Lenalee paused here, yes, reports like that weren't uncommon, she, and several other exorcists knew that all too well. Not that long ago, a year before this fisherman's report, in fact, an exorcist had been dispatched to investigate reports of a monster living in the same lake that Lenalee was headed to now. It had never been confirmed whether or not a monster had existed or not. The young exorcist had lost their life along with the finders who went as well. Lenalee had never been close friends with this exorcist and never known much about them either. However she did remember that this exorcist had been close friends with Kanda, she was now profoundly glad that Kanda hadn't been assigned to this mission along with her; Lenalee wouldn't have been able to deal with his angry depression. The loss of someone who'd been with Kanda since his days at the Asia branch had taken a huge toll on him. Lenalee suspected there was also something else behind his depression, though, especially since the attack on the North American branch. Kanda was still unconscious in the infirmary because of that attack. Allen was there too, awake but recuperating from numerous wounds, a small amount of which minor. Lenalee and everyone else wondered what the hell had happened, but no one involved would speak a word about it. But now wasn't the time to worry about it, she turned her eyes back to her folder.

_However, not long after the report, a crystal labyrinth had appeared on the surface of the lake. Akuma and human alike have entered the matrix of shining crystal have ever come out. The citizens of the city of Drumnadrochit would like to ask The Black Order to please help us find out what has happened to our missing citizens and perhaps help us remove the labyrinth from the loch._

* * *

Lenalee was seasick; she'd been on boats before, but never one like this. It was so dinky that every single bit of shook when hit by the smallest of waves. Lenalee got stuck on this…thing…only because everyone was too terrified to take her to the labyrinth, that is, everyone except some ancient sea dog.

"Sorry, little miss," the almost toothless old man said in a gruff voice, "My ship ain't the best, but it'll get yer to th' maze."

A ship? This didn't even qualify as a dingy! Still, Lenalee forced down her pride, and what was left in her stomach.

"It's really… ngh…no problem," she said as her stomach lurched for what must have been the twelfth time that day.

"Oh lookie, we're here!" The old man let out a wheezy chuckled and pointed. Ahead of them was what looked like a wall of pure amethyst. Lenalee stared, seasick feeling completely forgotten, the Labyrinth was beautiful from a distance, but up close it was breathtaking. It was hard to believe that something so stunning could be so dangerous.

The boat touch lightly against the small stretch of crystal beach that surrounded the beautiful matrix. Lenalee stepped onto the shore, grateful to finally be off that deathtrap the old man called a ship.

"Good luck, missy," The fisherman cried, "I won't be hangin' around waitin' for ye to git back." He shook his head apologetically, "I don't want to be anywhere near here, 'm afraid. I'm sure you'll find some way back."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Lenalee smiled as the man pulled away from the shore, leaving her to gaze at the shining maze before her.

"Activate." The dark boots came to life as Lenalee went to get a bird's eye view of the labyrinth. What she saw astounded her. The labyrinth was enormous, much bigger that what she had expected. It would have taken a week just to get halfway to the center. Lenalee was thankful that she had her boots to help her. Even so, it would still take about an hour to get there and Lenalee knew that was too much strain to put on her body all at once, especially when there was all the likely-hood of her running into akuma along the way. She decided to take it in intervals. She took another look at the matrix, formed a mental map to the center, and touched back down to the ground. The first interval would be on foot.

Just before entering the Labyrinth, Lenalee brushed her foot against something. She wouldn't have noticed if it hadn't made a soft jingling noise. She brushed away the thin layer of snow (it was mid-December and the labyrinth did not seem immune to the elements), what she found was a small golden bell, Lenalee picked it up and was transfixed by what that bell was attached to. It wasn't unfamiliar to her, a black choker from which hung the gold bell and then the fine silver chain attached to the choker, a crescent moon hanging from it delicately. The black stone that formed the moon was set so that the silver piece that held it created the delicate shapes of waves across its smooth dark surface. The whole neck piece still shone as vibrantly as Lenalee had remembered it, when it graced the neck of that young exorcist who lost her life at this very lake. Lenalee wondered if this was some sort of sign, all the same she pocketed the trinket, hoping to take it back to Kanda as a memento of his lost friend.

Lenalee wound her way through the seemingly endless passages, confident that she was taking the route in her head. After twenty minutes or so, she activated her boots and flew up above the walls. She wasn't surprised to see she hadn't made much progress. She was about to fly herself significantly closer to the center when something wrapped around her ankle and forced her back to the ground. When she got her bearings again, Lenalee noticed the crystal vine retracting back to its place on the wall of the labyrinth path. It seemed as though her plan wouldn't work after all. Lenalee heaved a sigh, this was going to be a very long trip. Then she squared her shoulder, picked up her feet, and started walking.

* * *

It was almost sundown, Lenalee was leaning against a wall, exhausted. She'd walked for hours on end and knew that she'd barely even entered the matrix of crystal paths. She pulled out the necklace she'd found outside the maze. Was this really a sign of her own demise? Was she really going to die here, wandering through these identical paths, desperately trying to reach whatever was at the center?

Suddenly, Lenalee heard footsteps. She looked toward the bend in the path not that far away from her and was shocked to see none other than Road Camelot and an unfamiliar man who was obviously a Noah. Road grinned broadly and skipped over to where Lenalee was.

"Hi there," she said in her sickly sweet voice, "What are you doing here Lenalee-chan?"

"Road you know this girl," The man with stopped short when he got close enough to see Lenalee's uniform, "Oh, an exorcist."

"Come on, Wisely, be civil!" Road reprimanded jovially, "She's all alone in a never-ending mixture of crystal walls, if it was me… actually, I wouldn't be scared at all! I mean, there are so many akuma in here!" The girl collapsed into a fit of giggles.

"I don't know what you're so happy about, Road," the man called Wisely said in a bored tone, "There is the fact that our powers are completely useless in this place."

Lenalee perked up a bit at that, the Noah couldn't use their powers! That gave her the advantage. She may not be able to fly above the maze, but she could use her innocence inside of it. It was a good thing too; Lenalee had already faced several level threes while trying to navigate her way through. However, she wasn't entirely sure if she could believe what the Noah had said, they were untrustworthy. On the off chance that they were true, however, Lenalee activated her innocence and sped through the two of them, cutting the bend a little too sharply and cutting her arm on the sharp crystal. She stopped halfway down the path to inspect the damage, unfortunately letting the Noah catch up to her.

"Hey, where are you going in such a hurry, Lenalee-chan?" Road asked as she came down the walkway.

"Yeah, are you so eager to get away from us that you'd cut yourself that badly?" Wisely was sauntering down the path, sleeking back his white hair. His comment, however, was not without merit; Lenalee's arm was worse off than she had originally thought. The corner had ripped through the sleeve of her coat and the shirt she was wearing underneath it, cutting deep into the skin of her forearm.

Lenalee stared at the wound for a second, then took off her coat and used it in attempt to stop the blood coming from the cut. She heard Wisely sigh and walk over to her; she glared at him as he ripped the jacket out of her grasp, demanding to know what he was doing. Shock spread over Lenalee's face as she saw him rip off the sleeve of his shirt. He ripped the sleeve into strips and used them to bind Lenalee's arm, effectively stemming the flow of blood. She blushed slightly as he handed back her coat.

"Th-thank you," Lenalee said, disconcerted, "Why did you do that? I'm an exorcist, your enemy, remember?"

Road giggled, "Isn't obvious?"

Wisely shrugged, "We can't have you dying from blood loss on us." At Lenalee's confused expression he continued, "Look, we can't use our powers, but you can. That proves to me that what we're dealing with here is definitely innocence. We've wandered all over the place in here and have been attacked right and left by various traps and I'm still not sure how we're still alive. You don't look like you've been touched by anything in here, however. In other words, the labyrinth sees us as a threat, it's like it can tell we're Noah. You on the other hand, it doesn't see as a threat because of your innocence. So, to put it simply, you're going to guide us safely though this deathtrap, right to the center, right to the source of power, right to the innocence."

Lenalee gave an angry look at the Noah. "And if I refuse?" She said through gritted teeth, "What'll you do then? You can't fight me while I can still use my innocence. I can get away from you with ease and run fast enough that you won't be able to follow me."

Wisely shot his hand forward, closing it painfully on Lenalee's wound, making her cry out in pain. The Noah took advantage of this and forced her to the ground. While she was distracted with the pain in her arm, Wisely twisted her right ankle sharply, earning another, louder, cry of pain from the girl beneath him. He kept twisting until he heard a satisfying crack and a sharp scream emit from Lenalee as she tried to fling Wisely off of her. He obliged and left her to cradle her broken ankle for a moment.

Road was laughing hysterically, but calmed down enough to gasp, "You can't use your innocence now can you, Lenalee-chan? Your ankle's broken!" with that she let loose another wave of merriment as Lenalee glared at both of them, still clutching her broken ankle.

Wisely smirked, pleased with his work, "I don't mind having to support you, we just needed to get you in a position where you'd have no choice but to be our shield through the labyrinth."

Lenalee tried to stand, but it was no use, she fell against the wall. Blood had seeped through the bandages that covered her wound and smeared on the smooth surface of the crystal.

_Blood_

Lenalee winced and swung her good fist as Wisely came over to try and help her.

_I sense BLOOD_

Wisely laughed as the punch missed him by a mile.

_Whose blood is it?_

Road giggled as the girl slid lower against the wall in pain, leaving a longer trail of blood in her wake.

_More blood…not mine…then whose?_

Lenalee leaned her head against the wall, willing herself not to pass out, the necklace in her pocket jingled softly and her skirt was pressed harder into the wall.

_That sound…it's familiar…this presence…it is also familiar…it's their blood…who is it? I…must find out…who…now._

_As you wish, master, I will bring them to you._

_What? Who's there? Who are you?_

_Hmm? I am that which only you can control._

_That's not an answer._

_Yes it is._

_Not it isn't it's-_

_Hush, master, you need rest, I will bring the familiar presence to you, the one emitting the scent of blood. Until then, please sleep, it will harm you if you stay awake much longer._

_But-_

_Master, it is my job to protect you, please listen to me, after all I have been caring for you and nurturing you for a long time. You were asleep for most of it, healing the wounds your body had sustained. Meanwhile, I protected you and kept your mind and body strong._

_I see, but how-_

_Master, let us have no more talk of this, time for sleep, time for rest._

_Yes…rest…sleep._

The glassy eyes that were once opened slightly closed once more and the center of the crystal labyrinth became quiet.

* * *

Lenalee gasped, Wisely let out a cry of shock and pain, Road simply stared. The wall that Lenalee was leaning against had begun to move. The crystal had expanded outward and the young exorcist was steadily being engulfed by it. The translucent mineral had released an electric wave that shocked Wisely's hand when he tried to pull the girl out from it. Road was watching silently as the crystal continued to swallow the defenseless Lenalee. Once it had overcome her entire body, the crystal began to retract back into the wall. There was a brief flash, almost like a trick of the light, and Lenalee was gone.

"WHAAAAAAATT?!" Road cried out, "What happened?!"

"Dunno," Wisely said, rubbing his hand, numb from the electric shock, "But I bet I know where she is."

"Huh? Where?"

"Most likely she's been transported to the center."

"Well then let's go! If we can get there quickly, then we can get our hands on two innocence fragments!"

"Well I don't know if that's possible, Road." Wisely said, pointing over the child's shoulder.

Three huge cats, made of pure crystal were standing menacingly at one end of the path and slowly closing in. Wisely turned around, three more were doing the same at the other end, they were surrounded. The only thing Wisely could think of doing was to make sure Road was behind him, Sherrill would kill him if his precious daughter got hurt on his watch.

* * *

**Neko: Alrighty then, chapter 1**

**Road: That was...kinda fun!**

**Wisely: Why are Road and I even here?**

**Neko: Plot development, you'll see**

**Lenalee: do you enjoy seeing me hurt or something?**

**Neko: Considering you're my least favorite character, YES**

**Road&Wisely: Ouch**

**Neko: Well chapter two will be up at some point, please enjoy.**


	2. Breaking of the Crystal

**Alright chapter 2, can't believe I wrote this much on a type of fanfic I don't even like (it's already 12 pages 0.o)...but hey I like where it's going so far, and I know Yoru deffinitely going sue-ish here, but trust me, it'll tone down a lot.**

* * *

Lenalee awoke in what appeared to be a snowy wonderland. The trees and ground were coated in a light dusting of snow and amethyst-colored cats gambled about the roots. Wait, amethyst? Lenalee came to her senses and realized that she was still in the labyrinth, though in a much different part of it. The area was circular with multiple arches leading out to different walkways. It was when she saw these that Lenalee realized that she must be in the center of the labyrinth. She got up gingerly, not wanting to hurt her ankle any further, but her ankle didn't hurt at all! Lenalee looked down at the previously swollen and bruised skin and saw that it had been completely healed, the same was true for her arm. She looked around, wondering what was going on, then she saw it. In the center of the area stood a large amethyst-hued crystal. It was not that different from the one that had once protected Lenalee, only in color and shape. This crystal was much smoother and gracefully shaped with a wave-like appearance. Lenalee gaped at it until she saw what, or rather who, was inside. This was an even bigger shock for Lenalee, for she knew that person. Her hair may have grown significantly and her body may have matured, but there was no mistaking who this person was.

"Yoru…kun," the name was uttered in a voice barely above a whisper. All the same, the eyes of the girl in the crystal opened slightly as if she'd heard Lenalee's voice. Lenalee approached the crystal to get a closer look at Yoru's situation. What she saw was unexpected: the crystal was physically connected to the girl, imbedded in her hands. Lenalee knew that when she was inside the crystal nothing like that had ever happened to her. Then again, Yoru had been missing for four years, was it possible that the crystal was giving her nutrients intravenously? After all, it was impossible to be alive, let alone look that healthy without proper nutrition.

Lenalee moved in closer again, her hands now touching the surface of the crystal. Yoru's eyes opened wider, sensing the touch. Lenalee new she wasn't fully awake though, her eyes were glassy despite being half-way open. She began to pound on the crystal.

"Yoru! Yoru! Can you hear me? It's me, Lenalee! Please, wake up!" The necklace Lenalee still had in her pocket started jingling loudly due to her incessant pounding.

_That sound again? And what's that pounding? It's making my head hurt._

_It's that presence you asked me to bring you, master, the one who smelt of blood._

_I don't sense any blood now._

_I used your powers to make it go away._

_I thought I controlled you._

_You do, you subconsciously gave me the command to heal this presence in your sleep._

_I see._

_Shall I make it go away?_

_What?_

_The one pounding, it hurts you does it not?_

_Yes, but-_

_Then I shall make it disappear-_

_Wait._

_Master?_

_I hear a voice_

_It is my voice, master._

_No a different voice, an outside voice. It's…calling me._

_Calling you?_

_Yes, I can hear my name being repeated._

_Ah, it's the presence, master._

_Oh!_

_What is it, are you all right, master?_

_I'm better than all right, I KNOW that voice, it's Lenalee!_

_Who?_

_An old friend of mine._

_From where?_

_From…I don't know, I can't remember_

_Well what does this "old friend" want so much that she must disturb your rest and hurt you?_

_She's calling me, telling me to…wake…up?_

_Master?_

_Um…what's your name?_

_Name? you should already know, master, you have known me since you were quite small._

_Have I? Well I must be having a mental lapse, I can't remember it, please tell me?_

_Meibatsu_

_Meibatsu?!_

Suddenly it call came back in whirl of memories. She was Yoru, an exorcist of the Black Order, apprenticed to General Klaud Nyne. Meibatsuno Zaiaku was her innocence, the innocence she was sure had been destroyed. How long had it been since that day? The day she and the finders were ambushed by that Noah. Everyone single one of her vital internal organs had been punctured, her innocence had been destroyed, death was imminent. The last thing she remembered was sinking below the dark surface of Loch Ness as her killer looked down at her with a maniacal grin on his face.

_Master I believe you had a question earlier_

_Ah! Yes, Meibatsu, aren't I awake?_

_Not exactly, master._

_What do you mean_

_You've been comatose for almost four years, your body's been reactivating itself slowly, I've been protecting you the entire time._

_Four years? Has it really been that long?_

_Yes master, you would've died had it not been for your special healing ability. If you had died then I truly would've been destroyed and wouldn't have been able to speed up your healing process._

_I see, thank you, Meibatsu…_

_You have another question?_

_Yes, if I've been communicating with you subconsciously, why has it only been recently? Why haven't I been able to communicate with you since my body started to reactivate?_

_Master, after you body healed, it was your mind that needed to be cared for. I have implanted knowledge into your brain that girls of your age ought to have. That process was a slow one, even more so because I had to keep your body healthy as well. Your subconscious reactivated after I was through with this process._

_Wow innocence really is something._

_Yes, master, would you like to speak to this friend of yours?_

_I would like to very much, will you let me out so I can do so?_

_But if I do that, you will be unprotected!_

_Then please form yourself into the weapon you were four years ago._

_No_

_Excuse me?_

_No, I cannot do that_

_What happened to me controlling you?_

_You misunderstand, master, I cannot form into a weapon until you know what it is you fight for._

_What I fight for…_

_Yes_

_*sigh* I used to fight only for myself, I just wanted to get the war over with so I could home where it was safe. I wanted to go back to the place where I could just me, just be plain old Yoru._

_But you're not just plain old Yoru, even at home, are you, master?_

_*sigh* no and now that I thought about it later on, home was never safe for me, either. It was then I decided that once I was done fighting, I would go live on my own somewhere and start over. I shunned everyone at the order as a result, I didn't want to form any fragile ties. I'd been betrayed enough in my life, I didn't need it happening again. Then…_

_What happened?_

_I slowly began to get to know people, to let them into my life. I was no longer was afraid of being betrayed. We were all bound to each other by strong ties, not even death could break them. I lost sight of my original purpose, though, now that I think back, it really wasn't much of a purpose. It drove me to hurt people who cared for me. I closed out everyone, the worst part was that I closed out my best friend. It took him a while to forgive me, but he did eventually, and then I was able to branch out completely and welcome in strangers who quickly became closer to me than my own family had ever been._

_And now?_

_Now…haha_

_What?_

_I've figured it out, I know what I'm fighting for._

_What?_

_All those people who became a part of my life, that became my real family. Even if I lose all of them, I'll still fight to make sure their deaths weren't in vain._

_I see…good choice, master, I'll let you out now. This is our last exchange_

_Thank you, Meibatsu, for everything._

Lenalee continued to pound on the crystal, Yoru had closed her eyes again and Lenalee was desperate to get her to show some sign of life again. Suddenly a large crack appeared on the surface. Lenalee backed away slowly, the crystal was shining as cracks continued to appear on its surface. She fell on her knees as she was assaulted by a haunting melody. Clutching her head in pain, the melody suddenly stopped and Lenalee only had split second to shield her eyes as the crystal shattered into millions of tiny fragments. The deluge of crystals continued for several moments and Lenalee was completely unaware of when it stopped, too preoccupied with shielding her face.

A pair of hands gently brought Lenalee's arms down from her face and voice said, "it's okay, Lenalee, you can look now.

Lenalee stared at the figure before her, her black hair fell down all the way to her waist, bangs gently sweeping over her left eye. As for her body, she had a light hour-glass figure with a long torso, her limbs were long and supple, her hands and feet were delicately carved. If Lenalee hadn't seen her visible eye, she wouldn't have believed that the Yoru from her childhood was standing before her. However, Lenalee didn't know anyone else with violet irises, this had to be the same Yoru. That fact, actually became pretty apparent when she spoke.

"The hell are you staring at, Lenalee? It's just me. I know you haven't seen me in four years and all, but that's no reason to stare, unless," Lenalee saw the boyish grin she remembered from her childhood stretch across Yoru's face, "you've fallen for me."

Lenalee blushed furiously at this, "It's not like that! I'm just surprised that's all! I mean, you're supposed to be dead and now here you are cracking crude jokes like you used to four years ago! And furthermore, LOOK AT YOURSELF, last I remembered everyone confused you for a boy because you were so flat-chested and always kept your hair cut ridiculously short. Plus your uniform back then was one the boys usually would have worn." Lenalee would have continued but was interrupted by a peel of violent laughter. She looked and saw Yoru clutching her stomach, hunched over as wave after wave of raucous merriment swept over her. When the fit was over, Yoru was still bent over, hands on her knees, panting.

"What was that all about, Yoru?" Lenalee said, confused.

"Oh…Lenalee…you haven't changed," The still breathless girl gasped, "You still take me seriously…even when you know I'm joking."

"Well you haven't changed either, it seems. You're still cracking jokes and doing everything in your power to lighten the mood, just like in the old days."

"Heh, well I think I've matured a bit, otherwise I would have these around my wrists now would I?"

Yoru held out her hand, keeping the other one placed on her hip. On it Lenalee saw a black ring wrapped loosely around her wrist as it glinted in what had now become moonlight. Then Lenalee saw the dark red cross-shaped wound. It was not unlike the ones on her ankles, currently covered by her stockings, the only difference was this one was on Yoru's wrist, with the bottom of the cross extending onto the back of her hand.

"The other one is completely identical, I know it's black and all, but Meibatsu said that it's made out of my blood, does that make me a parasitic type now?"

Lenalee shook her head and stood up to show Yoru the rings around her ankles, " Something similar happened to me a few months ago, I over-exerted my innocence and ended up inside of a crystal. The science department decided it was an evolved form of the equipment type and named it the crystal type."

"Evolved huh," Yoru held up her hand and looked closely at the ring, she could see now that the black had a reddish tint to it, obviously because of her blood, "Just like akuma…weird."

"I think it's trying to make us stronger, after all, we've lost a ton of exorcists."

"Lenalee, when we get out of here, please tell me everything that has happened in the last four years, okay?"

"Okay, but that's IF we can get out of here, do you know the way out? I can't fly us above and out, not only won't it let me, it's too big to do in one trip."

"I don't think we'll need to word about that" Yoru said as a tremor swept through the entire labyrinth.

Another, more violent, shockwave came after the first, then everything became clear, the entire matrix was collapsing into the lake.

**Neko: I hope you enjoyed this chapter**

**Road: hey Wisely and I weren't in this one!**

**Wisely: I though we were "plot development"**

**Neko: Yeah, yeah, you guys are in the next one, quit yer whinin'**

**Yoru: Shouldn't you tell the readers what Meibatsu means?**

**Neko: Oh yeah, it's Japanese for devine punishment**

**Wisely: geez that's a little dark, don't cha think?**

**Neko: eh, it works**

**Kanda: am I still comatose?**

**Neko: Yup**

**Kanda: Damn**

**Road: wait, isn't Yoru a boy's name?**

**Neko: Normally yes, but it ties in with the story, just wait, it'll come up later if I continue with this (which I might not, it all depends on how the readers like it)**


	3. Innocence Hatsudou

**So another installment of In Memoriam. I really didn't expect this to get any kind of attention or that I'd be so addicted to writing it. Like I've said before, I don't really like _xOC fanfics, but hey, this is fun (for the moment).**

* * *

Road gripped Wisely around the waist as the same tremors that Lenalee and Yoru were feeling rumbled under their feet, throwing them both off balance. The giant cats had already crumbled with the first shockwave; all that was left of them were shards of broken crystal. Wisely nudged the pieces with his foot, what the hell was going on?

"Road, we need to get out of here."

"How, our powers don't work!" Road cried, putting her hands on her hips.

"Well we can't be far from the exit, if we run, we just might make it."

"Wisely!"

"Would you rather be crushed by a giant wall, Road?!" It turned out that Wisely need not have worried. Instead of crumbling, the walls of the labyrinth disintegrated, the pieces flying toward the center of the maze.

_I see now, they're headed toward the core of the innocence_. Wisely waited for the walls to finish breaking down, all the while trying to get a good look at what was in the center. The shattered fragments of the walls were emitting a radiant light that temporarily blinded him and Road. When they were able to open their eyes again they saw that they were now standing on what appeared to be a rocky land mass that was several times smaller than the labyrinth had been. Somehow, while they had been shielding their eyes, the Noah had been transported significantly closer to the still shining light in the center of what was now rock.

The light faded. The two Noah saw, standing a few yards away, Lenalee and another figure. The moon was bright that night and was emitting enough light that they could clearly make out the figure's features. Wisely admitted that the young woman standing across from that Lenalee girl was attractive, but not quite his taste. She was too thin and, though he hated to say it, too tall for his liking (Wisely wasn't exactly the tallest of men). There was also the fact that she was obviously an innocence host, the fact that the bracelets on her wrists were still emitting a faint light made that clear enough.

"WISELY!!!" Road shouted in excitement.

"You're so loud. What?" Wisely asked, annoyed.

"OUR POWERS ARE BACK!! I can FEEL them!"

"You're right" Wisely could feel the power return to his body. It must have happened when the labyrinth collapsed. This was good, now was their chance to kill the hosts before them and take their innocence fragments.

"Are you alright, Yoru?" Lenalee asked as said girl swayed dangerously.

"mm…yeah, 'm alright," Yoru was just a little taken aback by the sudden increase in power she felt her innocence gain when the labyrinth disappeared. She quickly regained her composure as she heard shouting not that far away from them. Yoru looked over and saw two shapes moving quickly towards them.

"ACTIVATE!!" The two girls were just in time, Lenalee was able to fly out of reach of Road's attack and Yoru caught Wisely's fist, nullifying its destructive force. The bands around her wrists had shifted. Now they outlined the cross wounds, wrapping around the underside of her wrists and coating part of the backs of her hands and a section of her forearm in a black metal that swirled slightly, outlined in a dark red. The swirling blackness had covered Yoru's hands, protecting them from Wisely's attack. Wisely felt a sharp pain in his hand and jumped back. His hand was bleeding heavily. The Noah snarled as he realized that the shadows protecting the bitch's hands had the ability to cut and slice deeply into their target. He rethought his plan of attack, but he didn't get to complete it before the girl was on the offensive. She unleashed a long-distance attack, the shadows that the bands were producing now stretching into deadly snake-like forms that could either pierce straight through to other side of his body or cut in him half, depending on her will.

Yoru was amazed at the ease with which she was able to wield Meibatsu. Before, when she was just an equipment type, Yoru had difficulty controlling her innocence when trying to use the long-distance offensive attack. Now she was able to control the shadows of Divine Punishment with ultimate ease. With the slightest thought, the shadows made a b-line for their target. The Noah was too nimble for her to get a good stab aimed at him, though. Yoru instead reverted back to her close-range attack, allowing the shadows to coat her hands once more.

Wisely paused for a moment, wondering why the long-range attack had stopped. Suddenly he was hit by a blow to his stomach that did much more that just drive the air out of his lungs. When he looked down, Wisely saw that he was bleeding heavily from a large wound on his abdomen. He cursed as he glared at the smirking girl before him. She wasn't just a host; she was way too advanced in controlling her innocence to be that. No, this girl was a full-fledged exorcist, and a good one at that. Wisely focused his demon eye on the girl. He didn't have enough energy to crush her head, but he did have enough to cause her massive, most likely fatal, damage by crushing her rib cage. He smiled as he heard a cry of pain leave her lips just before she sank onto her knees, coughing up blood and sending in onto the rocky ground beneath her. Wisely saw her mouth something just before he passed out from the wound in his stomach.

_Damn you, Noah Bastard._

_Heh, same to you, Exorcist Bitch._

Lenalee had evaded another one of Road's attacks when she heard Yoru cry out. Both exorcist and Noah looked in the direction where the other two had been fighting. Both had collapsed onto the ground.

"Yoru!"

"WISELY!!" Road rushed to crumpled form of her fellow clansmen. Lenalee did the same with Yoru. She turned over her friend to see the thick trail of blood coming from her lips. No, this couldn't happen, not again.

"Yoru. Yoru! Wake up! You're not really dead are you?!" Lenalee stopped yelling when she heard a weak laugh. She stared as Yoru opened her eyes and gave her a weak smile.

"Have you forgotten my special healing ability, Lenalee?" Yoru sat up, indicating that she was perfectly fine.

"Oh, right, the same one as Kanda's. Though, now that I think of it, you heal a lot faster than he does."

Yoru stared at her.

"What?"

"Well I never really noticed it before, but when you mentioned that ability it reminded me of how Kanda always heals inhumanly fast from his wounds. Like I said, you heal a lot faster than him."

This wasn't good. Yoru needed to get back to the order and see Kanda soon so she could sort this out for herself. When she last saw her friend, he was healing at the same rate she was. The fact that he was now healing noticeably slower than her meant that something was up.

"Well, there's no need to worry about me, Lenalee. We ought to focus on the Noah-!" Yoru looked at where Wisely had been lying, but neither he nor the girl that was with him was anywhere to be seen. They must have made a run for it while Lenalee was worrying about Yoru's no longer existent injuries.

"They got away."

"No shit, Lenalee." Yoru hated it when her enemies got away before she could finish them off. She got up and stretched, shivering slightly as the cold night air blew past her. Yoru, having been sealed inside a crystal for four years, wasn't exactly wearing appropriate clothing. The black fabric of what had once been long shorts only went about a third of the way down her thighs; her old coat had completely worn away, but the shirt just barely covered up her chest, leaving plenty of exposed cleavage. As she looked at her reflection in the water at the edge of the landmass, Yoru thought she looked like a shipwreck survivor. The look was even more complete by the multiple piercings in her ears (though she was pleased that she hadn't lost these). Yoru laughed bitterly at her state, it was so ironic considering her life before she joined the order.

"AHOY THAR, MISSY!!"

Yoru turned and saw Lenalee waving frantically at a steadily approaching vessel. She walked over to her friend and saw a fake smile on her face. Lenalee looked more like she was in pain rather than happy to see the wizened old man step onto the shore and approach them. Yoru smiled slightly, wondering what sort of encounter Lenalee could have had with him.

The man reached them and grinned, "WEEELLLLLLL, ye done and done it! That 'orrible maze is gone fir good, aint it?"

Lenalee nodded, sill looking like she was in pain, luckily the man didn't notice. He looked over her shoulder to get a better look at Yoru, who gave him a genuine smile and a, he noticed, a very sailor-like salute. He tipped his cap to her.

"Good evenin' to ye missy, don't remember seein' yer face on ma way over 'ere with the other missy."

"It's complicated," Lenalee said, "but she'll be accompanying us on our way back."

"I see." He grinned again, 'Well we best be gettin' back, it's pretty late y'know."

The two girls nodded and stepped onto the boat, Lenalee rather reluctantly. Suddenly, before the boat had a chance to shove off, Yoru felt a wave of dizziness overtake her and sank to the deck. Her innocence had deactivated of its own accord.

"Sorry, Yoru, I should have warned you," Lenalee said guiltily, "it's a side effect of being a crystal-type. The same thing happened to me."

"Again, you have a lot to tell me before we get back to the order, Lenalee."

"I know, but I think we should wait until you've had some time to recuperate."

The boat left the rocky landmass and headed back for the harbor near Drumnadrochit. Lenalee fought to keep her stomach from rolling, failing miserably. Yoru, on the other hand, was perfectly fine; in fact, the rolling and pitching of the boat seemed to help her recover from her dizzy spell. The teen was now standing, perfectly balanced, and looking toward the harbor that had now come into view.

When they finally reached the port, Lenalee got off the boat as quickly as she possibly could while Yoru followed her at a leisurely pace. They got to the inn without any incident and ordered rooms for the two of them. The two girls showered quickly and Lenalee gave Yoru one of her night shifts, because of the girl's long limbs the simple white shift fell a little short, but it was better than nothing.

Exhausted, the two teen girls turned in for the night.

* * *

**When I read sections of this, it really seems somewhat shoujo-ai (I DON'T SUPPORT THAT AT ALL! though Yaoi is another story) . It buggs me a bit but I really like what I've written so I'm not going to back to tweak right now.**

**Wisely: Lazy ass**

**Neko: STFU Wisely**

**ANYWAY, Yoru's past will be explained a bit later, 'm kay? Right now I'm keeping it a secret, but you all can probably guess what her realtionship is with Kanda now, right?**

**Next Chapter will include our favourite samurai (and my favourite uke for my OTP X3), folks, but I think it'll end up being pretty short.**

**Kanda: Wait! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN UKE?! AND WITH WHOM?!**

**Neko *laughs histerically and walks away***


	4. Memories

**So Chapter 4...wow this is getting long, it's almost twenty pages on my computer. I happy for the support I've gotten for this fanfic, thank you very. Enjoy the next, rather short, installment.**

**

* * *

**"Kanda-kun, this isn't healthy."

No answer.

"Acting like this is seriously going to affect your physical and mental health."

Still no answer.

"Kanda, if you don't stop this soon, I'm going to have the head nurse haul you upstairs and lock you in your room where you will stay until you can get over this. You will be let out once you can avoid spending every hour of the day and night down-"

Kanda made no verbal response, but he gripped his beloved sword so hard that his knuckles turned white. This was enough of a warning for Komui. The chief sighed.

"Alright, I get it; I'll bring some food for you later. I expect you to eat it; I refuse to let you starve yourself because of your...mood."

The Japanese teen didn't respond. Komui sighed again.

"I'll be back in an hour, don't do anything dangerous while I'm gone."

An awkward silence fell and Komui left the young exorcist to his own devices. Kanda had been like this since he'd woken up and been discharged from the infirmary. After a heated bout of yelling between the teen and inspector Louvellier, Kanda had kicked and punched the man as hard as he could, successfully breaking six of his ribs and sending the poor inspector right back to the care of the head nurse, where had been only a day prior to their argument. After inquiring into the whereabouts of a certain person, Kanda had then proceeded to Hevlaska's chamber, where said certain person was currently located. The teen hadn't left the area since, not even for food.

Hevlaska watched the teen silently, not wanting to disturb him. She could tell he wasn't depressed, like Komui assumed; it seemed that he was just deep in thought.

And so he was. As Kanda looked up at what had once been one of his closest friends, his mind was mulling over the one thing he hated to think about: his past.

The last thing he remembered before waking up in the Asia Branch was staggering through a forest, bleeding heavily. He was nine and after he passed out from the excessive bleeding, he woke up suspended in some sort of liquid. A small boy peered into it, a look of utmost joy on his face. Kanda could remember the exclamations of ecstatic happiness his soon-to-be best friend, Alma, had let out upon seeing him awake.

About a week passed, Kanda and Alma had become fast friends during that time, but it seemed as if another was about to join their party. One day, Zhu, an old man who had helped on the experiments used to create Alma and turn Kanda into an artificial disciple, came to the two of them. A little girl was standing slightly behind him, shying away from the two boys.

"Alma, Yu, this is Yoru, she is also a part of the experiments used to create the both of you. She's been recuperating up until now." He gave the two of them stern looks, "I expect you to be nice, especially you, Yu, Yoru is the person who gave you your extraordinary regeneration abilities."

The two nodded and the little girl walked over to them. She bowed in the typical Japanese fashion and was a little taken aback when Alma suddenly rushed forward and pulled her into a hug that nearly knocked her flat. He let her go and shook her hand vigorously.

"Hi, Yoru-chan!! I'm Alma Karma and this is Yu, it's nice to finally meet you! We heard there was another kid here but we never got the chance to meet you!" The boy said all of this very fast.

"Uh, yes, nice to meet you both," Yoru said quietly.

Kanda bowed to her in the same fashion she had just done, "As Alma just said, I'm Kanda Yu." He said this in a low voice with a hint of anger in it. Zhu had left and Yoru was left without any sort of protection from this unwelcoming reception.

"I-is something wrong?" she asked tentatively.

"Yeah, you are," Kanda was completely letting his anger show now, "You're DNA is the reason I'm stuck here with no memories and the reason I'm going to die."

Kanda had found all the details of the experiment shortly after he'd woken up, including the fact that his was a failure. The experiment had completely erased all memories of his life before he ended up at the order, but that wasn't all. The DNA used to give him his special healing abilities combined with the innocence to create a violent reaction in his body, the end result being that he would die a very early death. Of course the child had been upset about this and he longed to take it out on anyone he could possibly blame. The opportunity had just presented itself in the form of the person whose DNA would slowly destroy him. However, the reaction he was hoping to get wasn't the one he got. He expected the girl to break down, instead she stood there, an angry glare on her face, her hands balled into fists.

"Look," she said through gritted teeth, "I didn't _want_ to do this, it happened without my permission. I'm sorry about what happened to you but this isn't my fault. I was out of it when that woman took my DNA and implanted it in the two of you. I had no choice, so stop forcing your problems on me." she held her up with authority now, "Now apologize before I beat you into a pulp."

It was these words that officially brought the three children together. Kanda formed a grudging respect for the person who had actually talked back to him and had even threatened him. Alma was shocked that the girl was able to say so much, considering how shy and quiet she'd been. These mixed feelings gradually made them inseparable and they were able to enjoy their lives to fullest. Then one day it all fell apart.

Kanda hugged his knees to his chest as the unpleasant memories came rushing forward, shoving the nice memories of laughing, training, and overall merry-making out of the way. Alma had snapped, he was rampaging all over the branch, he'd killed dozens of lab personnel already. Yoru was desperately trying to stop him, attacking and reasoning with him at the same time. Kanda was doing his best to back her up and defend the other lab personnel, yet neither of them could quell Alma's anger.

Yoru was thrown across the room and into Kanda's gut, knocking the two children into a rack of beakers. As they stood up among the broken glass, Kanda felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You have to kill him, Yu," A voice whispered in his ear.

Kanda turned around and glared. It was Yuda, the central woman who was in charge of the experiments involving him and the other two. He hated her with a passion for using him and Yoru for her own personal gain. Now she was telling him to kill Alma?! What was going on? She was the one who created him. He watched in horror as the horrible woman's hand balled itself in Yoru's hair, yanking her painfully back, she put a knife to her throat.

"Your choice, brat, kill that little monster, or I'll kill this one." She emphasized her point by pressing the knife dangerously into the girl's skin, drawing a tiny bit of blood.

Kanda didn't have a choice, despite Yoru screaming at him not to do it, the boy knew who he had to pick. He picked up the sword that had his innocence molded into it. He rushed at Alma and struck. Hard. His former best friend collapsed, dead. Kanda sank to his knees, tears spilling over his eyes.

Hevlaska saw the current shaking as he clutched his knees tighter and tighter to his body. She wondered what the young exorcist was thinking about.

"Kanda-kun, I brought you your usual." Komui had come unnoticed by both Hevlaska and Kanda. It was a good thing, though, because he broke the Japanese teen out of his reverie.


	5. Home Again, At Last

**So...Chapter 5... I can't believe I'm still writing this, but hey, you all seem to like it, so I'll keep updating as long I get good feedback! so please submit a review if you add this to your story alert! I'd like to know what you like/don't like about it. ^-^ again thanks for the support. I don't know when the next update will be, I have school stuff to do so the next update probably won't be until next weekend.**

* * *

Yoru gazed at the wintry scenery as the train sped along toward London. It had been about five days since she'd been freed from the crystal and she was happy to be heading back to the order at last. Lenalee had called to give Komui a heads up and to ask for some clothing for Yoru to where. Lenalee hadn't told her friend yet, but Komui said he had something big planned for when they got back. He had had Johnny send some clothes, which Yoru was now wearing, and the tailor never failed to impress. Yoru was clad in a pair of black riding-style pants that were tucked in to her black knee-high boots. She also wore a navy colored shirt that framed the necklace now clasped around her neck. Lenalee had taken the first opportunity she could to give it back and Yoru was overjoyed because it was her most cherished possession. The long over-coat lay beside the Japanese teen on the seat.

"Yoru?"

A slight jingling noise was heard as Yoru turned her head to face Lenalee, "Yes?"

"I've told everything that's happened over the past four years, but you never told me anything about what happened on that night we all thought you died. I have to say I'm really curious."

Yoru looked out the window again, "There's nothing to tell really. My group was attack, I wasn't strong enough, and that's pretty much it."

"Yoru…"

"Look, I don't really want to talk about it," Yoru closed her eyes against and leaned against the cool glass of the window, "Besides, I'm still processing everything you've told me." Yoru had a lot to think about regarding what Lenalee had said. All her senpais had been killed, not to mention all the other exorcists; there was a so-to-be Noah living at the order who also happened to be an exorcist, a lot had happened since she'd been gone and it was a lot to take in. To be honest, though, the Japanese teen was just using this as an excuse not to talk about what happened four years ago. It had been the third most painful experience in her life and she definitely didn't want to talk about it.

"Okay, but you know my brother's going to ask you, and I would assume that Klaud-gensui and Kanda-kun will too."

"Then I'll tell them together."

Lenalee laughed, "Of course."

_Attention, passengers, we will be arriving at the station in about five minutes. Please make sure you do not leave and children or baggage behind and have a wonderful time during your stay in London. Our next stop is Brunswick._

"That's us, Lenalee," Yoru said as she stood and stretched, slipping on her overcoat. She took a blue ribbon out of her pocket and pulled her long hair up into a ponytail.

"God, this is annoying," She said as she finished tying the ribbon into a floppy bow. Lenalee looked at her and laughed again, it was such a typical thing for Yoru to say. She might look feminine on the outside, but the teen actually had quite the masculine personality.

"Why don't you try leaving it down instead?" Lenalee asked as they left the station, "It'd be easier than pulling it up all the time."

"Actually, I think I'm going to cut it when we back to HQ. It's not going to be as short as it was before, maybe about your length or something."

Lenalee cried out in horror at this statement, "YOU CAN'T!! It's so beautiful; you can't let it go to waste. I'd love for my hair to be that long again, please don't cut it."

"Geez, Lenalee, it's just hair." At Lenalee's pleading expression Yoru sighed, "Fine! I'll keep it long, happy?"

Lenalee nodded, smiling brightly, "I think this'll be good for you. You never really cared about your appearance and insisted on looking as boyish as possible, to the point where you were actually being mistaken for one. Considering your age, you can't do that anymore."

Yoru hopped onto a low stone wall and started walking on it, "that was honestly just my way of leaving behind my past and beginning anew at the order."

"You know, I don't much about your past. I actually don't think anyone does."

"Well, you know I like keeping to myself."

"Yes, you're very cat-like in more ways than one, Yoru-kun."

Yoru laughed and hopped off the end of the stone wall. They had reached the rendezvous point where a pair of finders would take them to headquarters via the underground waterway. The finders were there, they bowed as the two girls approached them. They all climbed into the awaiting boat and headed off to headquarters.

* * *

Yoru gaped as she saw the beautiful cathedral come into view. Lenalee had told her that HQ had been moved, but not to such a breathtaking beauty.

They disembarked at the underground dock and Lenalee took Yoru's hand and lead her upstairs. Yoru had expected to go straight to Komui's office but instead she was lead to an elegant wooden door. When it was opened Yoru saw a beautiful bedroom before her. Inside was a large bed tucked in a corner against a high window that took up almost an entire wall. Large burgundy drapes were held back by green and gold ties, letting in the winter moonlight from outside. There was a wardrobe up against another wall, a full length mirror beside it. The floor rose up along another wall, Lenalee told her that it was meant as a meditation area and so it was. There were small incense burners with splits of different kinds of incense beside them along with scented candles. Not far from the small beside table there was also a roman style lounge couch. Overall, the room was extraordinary.

"All of them are like this," Lenalee said, "This one belongs to you."

"Are you serious?" Yoru asked, astounded, "They're all like this?"

"Yup and Johnny said he filled the wardrobe for you since you don't have any clothes."

"He didn't have to do that," The Japanese teen took a look into the wardrobe and felt her jaw drop. The closet was full of clothes that suited her perfectly. Yoru smiled as she hung up her overcoat. "He knows me all too well."

"And yet he was able to put a feminine touch wasn't he?"

The Japanese teen nodded, "Now, off to Komui's?"

"Why don't we get some food first?"

"Alright, if you're sure that's okay." Yoru said as they walked out of the room.

* * *

"SURPRISE!! OKAIRI!!"

The two girls rounded the corner into the cafeteria and Yoru was shocked for what seemed to have been the tenth time since she'd entered headquarters. The dining hall was packed with people. A giant banner hung from the ceiling read: WELCOME BACK YORU!! The teen smiled, tears of joy brimming at her eyes.

"Tadaima!!" She said brightly, earning an earth-rattling cheer from the crowd.

Yoru was soon immersed in a sea of people shaking her hand and welcoming her back. The bulk of these were finders who had known her from four years ago, most of the exorcists hung back because they had become part of the order after her supposed death. However she did receive two bone-crushing hugs (one from Marie, the other from Tiedoll) and plenty of pats on the back from the science section and the other staff. Klaud had quite the emotional reunion with her old student and tears were shed from both parties. It was just as Yoru was being introduced to her new kohai, Timothy, that Lavi made the biggest mistake of his life.

"St-STRIKE!!" the redhead rushed forward to seize the girl's hands and ask her out. Next thing he knew, he was pinned to the ground, his arm twisted painfully behind his back and knee digging into his vertebrae.

"Don't even think about it, hentai," The girl had mixed her native tongue into this sentence, but Lavi's years of study had taught him to recognize the Japanese word for pervert. He blushed as the girl got off of him and let him get up. She was fast; Lavi hadn't even seen her move to attack him.

"Lavi, can't you act collected in front of just one girl?" A white haired boy said from the corner. Yoru recognized the boy from Lenalee's report: Allen Walker, the exorcist hosting the 14th's memories. The Japanese teen shook his hand as he introduced himself. She smiled while inwardly taking in his mannerisms and appearance. Allen was quite the gentleman; it was hard to believe that he was the host of a Noah.

Komui walked over and slapped her on the back while handing her a drink.

"It's good to have you back again, Yoru-kun." He said, smiling warmly.

"Ah, that's right, I heard you fought for us four years ago," Allen said, "then you disappeared. What happened?"

"As much as I'm sure everyone in this room would like to know that," Yoru said, casting a look around the room, "and some more than others, I would rather not discuss it in full detail right now." She turned to Komui, "I have something to ask you."

"What is it?"

"It's been bugging me for a while, but…Where's Kanda? I thought he'd be here."

Allen, the one called Lavi, and several other exorcists that Yoru did not know looked as though they'd all been slapped in the face.

"You're asking about HIM?!" Allen and Lavi cried in unison, "That DEMON?!"

Yoru smiled, "he's as antisocial as ever I take it?"

"You have no idea! He's terrible!"

"That's only because you don't know him." The Japanese teen turned back to Komui, "So where is his demonicness?"

"Ah, well, you see, Yoru-kun," Komui said uneasily, "I didn't tell him you were coming, I wanted to surprise him. However, I could persuade him to come; I think he's in the library right now, actually."

Yoru sighed, "Well, things seem to be winding down, so I'll go see him, then," She grinned evilly, "Then I can pay him back for the snub."

With that, Yoru walked calmly out of the cafeteria and towards the library that Lenalee had showed her the entrance of right before they had gone to the dining hall.

**I hope you liked it, here are just some notes for those who aren't very familiar with common Japanese terms:**

**Kun/San/Chan- suffixes used as terms of respect or endearment/ familiarity, San is the equivalent of Mr, Ms, or Mrs and Dono and Sama are generally used when speaking to people of high/higher rank.**

**Niisan, Aniki/Neechan-older brother/sister or older brother/sister-like figure.**

**Gensui-Japanese word for a general, I keep forgetting to type General in front of the names because I'm so used to hearing gensui come after the names. So I decided to revert to the Japanese way of saying it to make my life easier.**

**Okairi-Welcome home!**

**Tadaima-I'm home!**

**Hentai-Pervert**

**Senpai/Sempai-term of respect for older or more experienced students. One spelling is for masculine and the other is used for the feminine, but I'm not sure which is which (if someone knows, please tell me, but only if you're positive, I won't except the phrase "I think it's this way/that way")**

**Kohai-opposite of senpai, a term generally used for younger or less experienced students**


	6. Violence in the Library

**AN: I'm sorry this is so late! My computer at home isn't working so I can't type! I have to use the school computers and I can't write much cuz I don't have the time. Again, I'm sorry, hopefully my comp will get fixed soon. Anyway, here's a really short installment, I'll add to it when my computer gets fixed.**

Yoru walked toward the library with Allen and Lavi trailing close behind, attempting to dissuade her from visiting a certain person.

"Trust me, this is a big mistake," Said one.

"He won't hesitate to kill you even though you're a girl," said the other.

The Japanese teen just ignored them and kept walking.

"Yoru-san, please! You don't know what he's capable of," this made her turn around to glare at the boys who almost collided with her.

"Look," she said, "let's get something straight. Despite the fact that it seems you were told that I was an exorcist here four years ago, you two insist on treating me like the new kid. The truth is that if I had fought for the order continuously up to this point, I'd have been here for nine years total. So I think I know a lot more about headquarters, and that includes the people in it, than either of you."

She turned on her heel and kept walking; leaving two very stunned young men to follow in her wake.

* * *

They entered the library to find Kanda lying on one of the couches. His eyes were closed and his chest was gently rising up and down, indicating that he was asleep. Lavi and Allen were both stunned by the normally scowling swordsman's tranquil expression.

"He looks…just so peaceful," Allen said in awe.

"Never knew he had it in him to make that kind of face," Lavi said, his arms folded behind his head, "I always though that Yu's face was stuck that way."

"Well he won't be peaceful for long," Yoru replied, smirking and picking up a pitcher of water from one of the side tables. Lavi and Allen watched in horror as the girl walked over and dumped the contents of the flask on Kanda's face.

Coughing and sputtering, Kanda jolted up and whipped his head around only to receive a hit that sent him rolling, completely disoriented, to the floor. He rolled onto his back and was just about to sit up when a booted foot placed itself on his chest. The Japanese teen looked up to a pair of very angry violet eyes glowering down at him. Kanda's eyes widened as he recognized the girl standing above him with her arms crossed.

"Y-YORU?!" he exclaimed. The said teen pressed her foot down, sending a dull pain through Kanda's ribcage.

"Damn right it's me, you fucking dumbass," She smiled, though the air around her was like ice, "Thanks for the snub, by the way."

Kanda started to explain but Yoru just dropped a note on his face and left, an awkward silence in her wake.

* * *

Kanda sat on the couch, reading the note Yoru had left on his face. It read as follows:

Honestly, Kanda, would it kill you to be a little more social? I know how you feel about this, but seriously, you're never going to get anywhere without trying to make at least one friend, other than me obviously. So next time there's a new exorcist, try actually coming to the welcoming party, then you won't end up with another drenching.

Yoru

P.S.

Come to the training ground at 3:00 tomorrow afternoon, we'll catch up there.

Lavi had started to read the letter over Kanda's shoulder, "HAHAHA!! YU-CHAN GOT CHEWED OUT BY THE NEW GIRL!" when he read the second half, his mouth fell open, "AND GOT A DATE TO BOOT?!" the red head stared at the Japanese man, "how the hell do you get a date when she's pissed at you and all I get is a sore arm?"

Kanda sighed, "It's not a date, Lavi, and I've known her for years. As you could probably tell, Yoru isn't exactly the most feminine, and definitely not the most romantic, of people." Kanda surprised even himself with how calmly he'd spoken to the redheaded idiot, "further more, she's not the "new girl", she's been part of the order for as long as I have…actually probably longer, now that I think of it. Anyway, she's probably going to want to train tomorrow, not actually talk. It seems logical considering she's been MIA for about four years. Wait…what do you mean a sore arm?! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO, STUPID RABBIT?!"

Lavi backed away slowly; Kanda was pissed, definitely pissed. "No-nothing," he stuttered nervously, "I just tried to ask her out and she pinned me! I swear it was nothing more than that!"

Kanda smacked his hand to his forehead; he couldn't believe how stupid Lavi was. "Idiot, make a mental note RIGHT NOW. Yoru may look like a girl, but in reality, she's just as short tempered and violent as I am. Of course, for you, because she's of the opposite sex, it makes her about ten times as dangerous as me. Trust me, provoking her is like provoking a lioness. I say lioness because they're much more dangerous than male lions."

"Wow, Kanda," Lavi said, "I can't believe how much you know about lions!"

"I can't believe he actually admitted that he's a short tempered, violent bastard," Allen said, smirking.

Kanda sighed again; he didn't have the energy to deal with Lavi's idiocy or Allen's provocations. He also needed to dry off. He got up and was about to leave when he turned back to the two morons. "You can laugh all you want about what I said," He smirked, "but when one, or even better both of you end up in the infirmary with your heads cracked open, don't come crying to me." With that the swordsman left the library, leaving Lavi and Allen feeling very nervous about the order's "new" addition.

**There, second half of that chapter finally up!**


	7. Meetings and Bad Ideas

**An: Hey, finally back in action! I received a lovely new MacBook Pro for Christmas and I shall now be able to update this fanfic again! It felt so good to be writing it again! Please make sure you read the second half of chapter 6 before you read this one!**

Yoru rose early the next morning. She lit the candles and a couple of the incense splits and sat down to meditate for a while. She needed to mentally prepare herself for the meeting later that morning. Yoru, Komui, the generals, and the various other branch heads, were to meet with inspector Rouvelier to discuss what had happened to her team four years ago.

There would be a lot to discuss, Yoru knew that, and she knew that there would be topics that wouldn't be related, or at least very obscurely, to the incident itself. It was still hard for the young exorcist to talk about those topics, so meditation was an absolute must. Later, she would vent her stress at the training with Kanda. Yoru felt a tiny pang of guilt at this. The poor guy didn't have any idea what he was in for.

A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts.

"Yoru, can you be ready to leave in five minutes?"

"Yes, master." The Japanese teen got up and walked over to the wardrobe. She selected a deep purple tank top and a pair of black pants that flared out below the knee. She tied a scarf-like belt around her waist and pulled on her boots. She quickly brushed her hair, inwardly cursing Lenalee for persuading to keep it so long, and pulled it back into a low ponytail, holding in place with a silver clasp, the kanji for her name inscribed in black.

She met her master in the hall and the two of them walked to the central meeting room. When they entered they saw that the generals and branch heads had taken their seats. Yoru had expected Cross to be missing; Komui had told her that the man was currently in central, so she took no notice of his absence. In fact, she was inwardly thankful that the womanizer wasn't there, she'd almost been assigned to him as an apprentice, then Klaud had come in and saved the day.

Inspector Rouvelier stood at the head of the table, Komui sitting to his right and looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. The Japanese teen recognized the man from Lenalee's repeated escape attempts and various other visits that would cause Lenalee to run to wherever she and Kanda happened to be meditating or sparring. Yoru remembered how Lenalee would always seek solace from the Japanese boy. It was logical, considering that Yoru was a full-blown tomboy and Lenalee seemed to be a little scared of her, Kanda's cool, silent demeanor was definitely more preferable.

"Welcome, Kuroumi Yoruko," Yoru twitched and the use of her full name, "It is wonderful to have back with us."

The Japanese teen bowed, stiffly, "I, myself, am happy to be back and able to assist my exorcist comrades in battle." She emphasized the last part of her sentence, making the inspector's fake smile falter and earning much approval from Bak Chan and his father, Zhu Chan. Yoru was making it quite clear that she wouldn't let herself be used by central ever again.

The inspector had recuperated and sat down, motioning for Yoru to take the empty seat next to Komui. Once she had done so, Rouvelier continued to speak.

"As I'm sure you aware, Yoruko-san-"

"Inspector, before we continue this conversation, I would like you to either address me by my surname or, if you don't like being that formal, as Yoru. I am unused being called by my full given name and, quite honestly, I detest it. So if you would please oblige, I would be ever so grateful" Yoru ignored the shocked faces of the branch heads and the stunned inspector was slightly irritated by the smug looks on the generals' and Komui's face. He cleared his throat and tried again.

"Well, Yoru-san," Yoru smirked, "as I'm sure you are aware, we have gathered to here to hear what happened to you four years ago while on your mission to Loch Ness."

And then some, Yoru thought. Still, She inclined her head to meet the curious gazes focused on her.

"My team was sent out to investigate reported sightings of a monster lurking in the depths of Loch Ness, Scotland. While investigating the lake, we were ambushed."

"By whom?" several people asked at once.

"Judging by the cross-shaped marks embedded in his head, I assume it was one of the Noah." Yoru waited until the commotion at these words had died down before continuing, "The two finders who'd accompanied me were killed almost instantly. I myself fought back as hard as I could, but the Noah quickly overpowered me. He managed to phase an odd butterfly through my body and puncture every single one of my vital organs. While I was slipping into unconsciousness, I saw him crushing my innocence in his hand. He then dropped me into the lake and my crushed innocence followed suit. The last thing I remembered was falling into the lake and passing out. The next thing I knew I was having a subconscious conversation with my innocence and then Lenalee pounding on the crystal form it had taken. I woke up, we battled with the Noah, they withdrew, and we rested for a few days and cam back here. That pretty much sums it up."

"Yoru, you said you communicated with your innocence subconsciously, what exactly did you discuss? This information could be very valuable and help us to learn more about the other possible crystal-type accommodators like yourself."

Yoru looked over at Reni Epstein, who had posed the question. Yoru was still holding a grudge against the Epstein family, who had done a lot to her in the past.

"This feels weird saying this out loud," Yoru began, "the innocence told me how it had kept me alive for four years, repairing the damage to my body and maturing it and my mind at the same time."

"How did it keep you alive and when did you realize that you were having these exchanges?"

"It gave me nutrients intravenously and I have absolutely no idea," The teen said, curtly. This was another reason she hated the Epstein family, they always spoke so professionally, it was pretty damn annoying. "Is that really important information?"

"Yes, it gives us a little more insight to the innocence as a whole," again with the professionalism, "You are the third person to be protected by your innocence, Yoru, this is showing a pattern in the innocence's behavior. It never used to act on its own, now it's happened to three accommodators. Plus there's the fact that you all seemed to have pushed your anti-akuma weapons to the maximum before they evolved. If we can find out why this is, it could give us the key to speeding up the evolution process for other exorcists by skipping the over-exertion step."

"I see…" Yoru held her rising anger in check, now was not the time to fly off the handle. It irritated her to realize that the order hadn't learned its lesson about trying to take the easier way out of the war. "I don't think it'll be as you say, though."

"Why not? Her logic makes perfect sense." Another branch head piped up.

"Yes, Yoru-san," Rouvelier said, "Why on earth wouldn't it be that easy?"

Yoru closed her eyes, remembering back to the final part of her conversation with Meibatsu. She opened them again and faced the group, her previously bored expression replaced by one of utmost seriousness. "Because. The final stage of the innocence's evolution is completed when the host makes a decision. I think the entire process is triggered by a falter in the host's resolve. Only once the host chooses the real reason they fight can the innocence completely evolve and form a stronger bond with its accommodator."

"So what you're saying is," Komui said, speaking for the first time since the meeting began, "the innocence is testing its adapter. Considering that the innocence actually becomes a weapon once its accommodator gains the complete will to fight, it makes sense that it would want the host to have the right reason to fight. Once the host loses sight of the reason they thought they had to fight, the innocence tests them in order to drive them toward the real motive for which they constantly risk their life. Yes, I see now, this process can only begin once the exorcist has been subjected to the option of not re-synchronizing with the weapon that put them under so much physical stress. Their resolve shakes when they're subjected to the temptation of leaving the order and going back to the life they had before. The innocence, in a sense, puts them back on track and, if the host makes the right decision, brings them back to the field."

"So what that mean as far as speeding up the process goes?" general Zokalo grunted from his seat.

Komui shook his head, "It can't be done, the exorcists have to be subjected to this temptation before their innocence can evolve. They have to willingly go back to the battlefield by their own volition."

"Hmph, with the limited amount of exorcists and accommodators in this world, I was hoping we could at least gain a little more power with what we have." Rouvelier said irritably. He looked over at the Japanese girl, whose arms and legs were now crossed. "Well, we do have another option for gaining power."

The inspector's words brought out the curiosity of most of the branch heads and the suspicion and dread of the generals, Bak, Zhu, Komui, and Yoru. The said teen shot a warning look at Rouvelier, which he pointedly ignored.

"As all of you know, we now have to exorcists with extraordinary regeneration powers in our possession. Most commonly known to you is, of course, Kanda Yu, who received his abilities from none other than young Kuroumi Yoru. If I'm not mistaken, Yoru was born with her abilities and they have not diminished as a result." He looked straight at the Japanese girl, "If you would be so generous as you were nine years ago and allow us to-"

"Absolutely not."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, you son of a bitch. There is no fucking way I'm letting you torture me like you did nine years ago. You should already know what happens when you try to mess with the innocence and other people's bodies, so just forget about trying to use my DNA for your own selfish reasons."

"Selfish? Aren't you being selfish? Don't you want to help your fellow exorcists?"

"Yeah, and that's why I'm not going to subject them to the pain of being infused with my genes. You have no idea how there bodies will react to my powers and you might end up doing more harm than help by trying to do this."

"I agree," Komui said, his voice quivering with anger, "I am not going to let you do this. I don't care what you say, I'm not going to let you harm the accommodators. You need to realize that these people are not your personal toys, THEY ARE HUMAN BEINGS.

"That is absolutely right," Klaud had stood up, along with several others who were horrified by this idea. "I am not letting you harm my student again, nor am I letting you conduct any sort of experiment on me or Timothy for that matter, got it?"

With that, and many other words of dissent from each of the parties, excluding Ms. Epstein, the meeting came to a close.

As Yoru walked out of the meeting room, she checked the clock by the door: 1:30 pm, just enough time to grab something to eat and then change to go vent her fury by beating the shit out of her best friend.


	8. Fighting, Curiousity and more fighting

**An: Yay, new chapter! I think I'm going to start doing weekly updates from now on. Again, thank you all for your support, it means a lot ^-^**

**

* * *

Chapter 7:**

Kanda leaned against one of the stone pillars bordering the training ground. He was early for his meeting with Yoru, but he honestly had nothing better to do so he decided to train for the half hour he had to kill. He warmed up for a bit by "practicing" (aka beating to a pulp) with some of the finders. Even so, he still had an excruciatingly long fifteen minutes to endure before his old friend was due to be there.

The Japanese teen closed his eyes as a cool breeze wafted in from an open window. It wasn't long before he was catnapping where he sat.

_Screams echoed over and over again through the halls of the Asia Branch. He was running trying to find the source of the cries. He ran towards a bright light and…_

SMACK!

Kanda jolted awake as, for the second time in two days, he received a blow to the head that knocked him sprawling onto the floor. He sat up and saw, not surprisingly, Yoru leaning on the spot where he'd been only moments before. The swordsman was about to rebuke her when he noticed the expression on her face.

"Yoru? Are you okay?" Kanda said tentatively.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, 'm fine." But he could tell that she wasn't. She was staring out into space and her expression, though neutral, had a darkened appearance to it. Kanda wasn't stupid enough to inquire further. Yoru would recuperate, though that probably meant a world of pain for him, and he didn't want to make his situation any worse that it was probably going to be.

"Well, then, let's get going, I want to be finished by dinner," He said, nonchalantly, hoping reverting back to his normal self would put her in a better mood. Yoru nodded and walked off towards the sparring area. The finders started to back away when they saw Kanda following behind her.

They faced each other. Kanda removed his shirt in one fluid movement that caused some young nurses, and Miss Bonaire, to turn and stare in longing at the Japanese man's toned body. Yoru, ignoring this, followed suit, discarding the loose shirt she had replaced her tank top with. She had covered her chest with black cloth so, though still exposing a lot of skin, her modesty wasn't compromised. This alone, brought the hesitant finders back to watch the match that was about to take place.

The teens took their stance, preparing for the heated battle they knew was about to begin.

* * *

Lavi and Allen were walking toward the training ground, hoping to get in a small match before dinner, when they heard cheers and catcalls from the crowd that had gathered around the sparring area.

"Wonder what's going on." Lavi said speeding over to try and get a closer look.

"Must be some impressive fight" Allen said, hurrying to catch up with the redhead, "Maybe Kanda and Bookman again?"

"Nah the old man's takin' a nap, he said his rheumatism was acting up…" Lavi trailed off and Allen caught sight of the shocked look on his face. "I-I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!" he said, nearing blowing up Allen's eardrum. The white-haired boy looked in the direction of Lavi's stare and his jaw fell open.

A sweaty Kanda was bent over and panting, he didn't have long to recover, however, before her was assaulted by none other than Yoru. She almost landed a kick to his stomach, but Kanda dodged just in time, skidding to a halt on the other end of the training ground. Allen, Lavi, and Link watched in awe as Kanda regained and charged full-throttle at the Japanese girl. She stopped it by seizing his shoulders and driving her knee into his gut, driving the air out of his lungs. He quickly countered, though, by punching her and sending her flying back into one of the pillars. He followed up by pinning her neck with his arm. Another kick soon ended this brief respite and Kanda was knocked to the ground. He rolled out of the way just in time to miss a kick that Yoru had launched from above. When both had regained their footing a fierce bout of martial arts ensued. It was hard to distinguish who has landing a hit and who was dodging and countering.

"They'll kill each other if this keeps up." Allen turned to see Bak and Zhu standing behind him. They were watching the fight with interest, despite what Bak had just said.

"Should we stop them?" Allen asked.

"No need," Zhu said, calmly, "They'll stop in about 3…2…1…"

A cry of ecstasy sprang up from the crowd. Allen looked back to see Yoru sitting on top of Kanda, breathing heavily.

"Wait. What happened?!" Allen asked in confusion.

"You should've seen it!" Lavi said, "It really looked like Yoru was gonna lose, but then she kicked Yu's feet out from under him and he went down hard!"

"WHAT?! KANDA LOST?!" Allen couldn't believe it.

"She's the only person Yu's ever lost to," Zhu said, "It's not surprising, considering how different their lifestyles were before they became exorcists."

"What sort of lives did they live?" Lavi asked.

"Yu would kill us if we told you," Bak said, "But I think Yoru would be willing to tell you herself."

"Awesome! C'mon, Allen, let's go ask her!"

"Huh? Oh, uh, okay." Allen was already being dragged toward the two exhausted teenagers. He didn't like to pry, but he was just as curious as Lavi about Yoru's past.

**So yeah, Yoru's past will be talked about in the next chapter. This was a little on the short side, I'll try to make the next one longer (or I'll write two, maybe). We'll see what happens.**


	9. Past over dinner

**An: Yoru's past EXPLAINED...sorta...and the next chapter has the Noah. WE finally find out what happened to Wisely! ENJOY!**

"You sure didn't hold back, Yoru."

"Heh neither did you."

"Will you get off me now?"

Yoru laughed, getting up as she so. Kanda sat up and rubbed his head, which he had banged rather hard when she had kicked his legs out from under him. He took the hand she offered him and stretched.

"We should get cleaned up," Yoru said, smiling, jovially, her bad mood had obviously passed because of the fight. "I doubt Jerry will let us eat like this."

Kanda nodded and headed off to the baths. Yoru picked up her shirt and was about to head to the baths, herself, when someone called out to her.

"YORU-SAN!!" She turned to see Allen and Lavi coming towards her.

"Ah! Lavi-san, Allen-kun, you were watching?"

Allen nodded, "That was amazing, I don't think I've ever seen Kanda lose a fight to anyone except Bookman."

"Nah, he's lost to someone else before too." Yoru said, "But he doesn't like to talk about it."

"I see, well what we want to know is how on earth you were able to beat him." Lavi said excitedly, "I mean, Yu is such a demon when it comes to fighting."

Yoru smiled, "Well, given what my life was like before I came here, it really isn't too hard to believe."

"Really? What was it like?" Lavi asked. Allen was amazed at the speed with which he'd brought up the subject. He had expected Lavi to do much more sweet-talking to get the young woman to talk.

"I'll tell you about it at dinner or something," Yoru said, an odd look in her eyes, "right now I have to get cleaned up."

And with that, Yoru left the training ground and Allen and Lavi headed to the cafeteria. It would take about and hour and half for Allen to get his food, so they needed to go now before the rush came in.

When Yoru arrived, Allen was already shoveling an enormous amount of food into his mouth. The sight actually made the poor girl feel a little sick; how could one person eat that much and not be the size of a blimp? All the same, she sat down with the two of them and set to work on her own meal. The two boys noticed that it consisted of sushi with a variety of different fish.

"Big fan of fish aren't ya, Yoru," Lavi said.

"Well I grew up on it, and whenever I tried to eat other meat, I found that the flavor was so much stronger that it made me feel sick," She gestured at Allen's mountain of food, which had, to her surprise, been cut in half since she'd joined them, "I could never eat the kinds of food you do, Allen-kun, nor could I ever eat that much."

"'S cush 'm a parashitic toyp," he said with his mouth full. (Translation: It's because I'm a parasitic type.)

"I see."

"Neh, you said you would tell us about your past, Yoru-chan," Lavi said, "Get to it!"

"Well I joined up with the order about nine years ago, as you probably know." Yoru said. "Before that I lived in Nagasaki, Japan. My father was captain of one of the ships in the miniature fleet belonging to the Shiro Komadori Trading Company."

"I've heard of them!" Lavi said, "They run most of the silver trade in southern Japan."

"Exactly, my father was in charge of making sure his ship was in top condition and well protected and provisioned. He captained the Kage Neko."

"Sounds like a hard job," Allen said, taking a break from his food, "I bet he was gone a lot."

"Yeah, but it was okay, my brothers and I always went with him. We basically grew up on the ship. We got to see a lot of the east coast of the Asian mainland. Plus, we never gone for too long, we came back every few weeks and were at home for a good length of time before setting out again."

"Wait. You have brothers?"

"Yes, the twins are about four years older than me, their names are Ren and Yoite."

"What about your mother?" Allen asked, "Did she sail with you too?"

Yoru shook her head, "She was the priestess in the town where we lived, she couldn't leave the people that needed her help. My healing abilities were inherited from her and…" She stopped short.

"And?" Lavi prompted.

"And…that's why she never traveled with us," They didn't need to know, no one did. Kanda, Alma, and her family were the only ones who did know about it, about her ability to communicate with the spirits. It would only lead to trouble if anyone else knew. Sure, it was a normal skill for any priestess, but that didn't change the fact that she would be exploited if anyone, especially Rouvelier found out.

"So how did you end up in the order?" Allen asked.

"I wasn't immediately brought to headquarters," Yoru said, grateful for the change of subject, "I stayed at the Asia Branch for several months before coming here." She held up her hand, the reddish-black bracelet glinting in the light, "My bands didn't always look like this, they were shaped like cats that looked like they were chasing their tails. My father had bought them for me on an excursion to Thailand. He said they reminded him of me."

"That's nice of him," Lavi said.

"It turned out they were innocence; we found that out when we were attacked at a port in China. My innocence took down a bunch of level ones on its own; I couldn't control it at the time. A representative from the order's Asia branch was there at the time, actually, it turned out that he was the assistant director. Anyway, Dr. Edgar persuaded my father to send me to the order. That was nine years ago, I'm seventeen now, so I was around eight at that time, I spent about eight months at the branch and then came to the order with Kanda."

"Wow, so you two were there for a long time," Allen remarked, "why?"

"We both had injuries to recuperate from and they wanted us to get a stable enough synchronization before sending us to headquarters."

The three of them looked up, Kanda had walked over, scowling and hands in his pockets, "I think that's the whole of it for you, right?" He said, looking at Yoru seriously.

Yoru smirked, "Yeah, pretty much."

"Wait, I still don't get how you were able to beat Yu!" Lavi cried.

Yoru blinked, "Was that why you were so curious? Jeez, you should've just asked." She shook her head; "It's simple when you think about it. My father was involved in the silver trade remember? He branded martial arts into my head as well as my brothers'. Pirates often attacked silver ships, so we needed to be able to defend ourselves. There was also the fact that some of the crew members who didn't know my father very well, didn't like the fact that he brought his kids with him, especially his daughter. They thought he was weak… though they learned better once he subjected them to my and my brothers' skills."

"Wow, sounds tough." Allen said.

"It was." Yoru replied, "It was because of that that I was able to hone my abilities. Of course, master's training didn't hurt, either."

"I certainly hope not."

Klaud Nyne walked over and put her hand on Yoru's shoulder, "Komui wants to get you fitted for your uniform. Let's go."

Yoru nodded and got up, "See you." As she and her master left, shortly followed by Kanda, and Allen and Lavi returned to their meals, none of them could suspect what was going on inside of the Noah clan's ark.


	10. Unpleasantries alongside a new mission

**AN: I'm sorry if this chapter is a piece of crap! I'm sick so my writing's not at it's best...please enjoy!

* * *

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"OW! BE CARFUL, Sheryl!"

"Now, now, don't make a fuss, Wisely," Sheryl said, in that annoying simpering way of his, "I'm doing the best I can!"

Wisely winced. The wound that that exorcist had inflicted on him still hadn't completely healed. Well, he though, at least I inflicted massive damage on her too. Wisely had been bed-ridden for a week now because the injury had been dealt by the innocence.

"Wisely, are you okay?" Road came into the room and sat on the edge of Wisely's bed.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just in pain," he said.

"Well that's to be expected," The earl had followed Road into the room, looking at Wisely with concern. "She really got you." He said

Wisely nodded, "At least I landed a pretty good hit on her, though."

The earl grinned, "Yes, you'd never go down quietly."

"Earl, I'm glad you're here," Sheryl said as he finished bandaging Wisely wounds.

"What is it, Sheryl, dear?"

Sheryl handed the earl a file, "The reason we couldn't awaken Alma that time is because of the information in there. The data we didn't have at the time."

The earl flipped open the file and began reading it aloud:

_The DNA source for Kanda Yu and Alma Karma's regeneration abilities was a young girl by the name of Kuroumi Yoruko. She was brought to the order in the middle of the second exorcist project research. Her DNA was the key to the strengthening of the bodies needed to synchronize with the innocence._

_On top of all this, the girl was also an accommodator. She fought for headquarters for about five years before she was killed on a mission to Scotland._

The rest of the file contained details of the project. The earl didn't need to read this, though; he already knew all of it.

"So we needed this girl's memories on top of Kanda Yu's…"

"If she's dead, though," Sheryl said, "that means it's completely useless to try and awaken Alma."

"Maybe not," Road said, "Wisely and I were in Scotland when he got injured. It could be possible that the girl we fought was this Kuroumi girl."

"Is there a picture?" Wisely said, "Even if it's from that long ago, we'll still be able to tell if it's the right person."

The earl handed Wisely the two thumbnails that had come in the files. The first was of a girl around eight years of age. Wisely and Road recognized her instantly, despite the shorter hair and younger face. I was the exorcist who had fought them alongside Lenalee in Scotland.

"Definitely her," He said. Handing the first picture back to the earl and taking a look at the second. The figure was in their early teens. Their hair was cut in the male fashion, with bangs swept over the left eye. Had it not been for the feminine look in the eyes, he would have thought that this was a picture of the girl's brother.

"What are you all looking at?" Tyki strode into the room.

"Just the reason why we couldn't awaken Alma." Wisely said, annoyed.

Tyki took a look at the pictures. The first one he didn't really care about, it was when he saw the second that his eyes widened.

"Hey, I know this kid."

"You do?!" the all asked in unison.

Tyki nodded, "I killed him around four years ago."

"In Scotland?" Wisely asked.

"Are you sure?" Road inquired.

"You're positive it was a boy?" Sheryl cut in.

"Y-yeah," Tyki replied, a little taken aback, "Why?"

"Well this is certainly interesting," the earl said with his usual grin. Then, in answer to Tyki's confused expression, "This exorcist is alive, Tyki-pon, Wisely and Road confirmed it for us."

"You're kidding," Tyki said, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"No worries, this is actually a good thing," The earl said, "We now have both the keys to awakening young Alma. We just need to collect them all."

"Well… that's if the damage Wisely inflicted wasn't fatal." Sheryl said.

"I doubt it was," the earl said, "After all, this girl's DNA is what gave Alma and the second their regeneration abilities."

"And look," Road said, pointing out of the window, "She's right there!"

They all, except Wisely, rushed to the window. Sure enough, Yoru was walking down the street, chatting animatedly with Allen, Lavi, and Bookman. None of the Noah looking down at them were as shocked as Tyki, though.

"Wait…HE…NO…SHE'S A WOMAN?!"

"And a cute one at that," Sheryl said, "Such a shame she's an exorcist."

"Tyki," the earl said, "Care to put some of that gentleman's charm to use? You might be able to find out her weakness."

Tyki sighed and walked out of the door, resigned to the fact that this was not going to go well.

"You're uniform looks good on you, Yoru-chan," Lavi said.

"Th-thanks," Yoru said, blushing. Her uniform consisted of black pants that flared out below the knee with slits cut into the sides (of the flared area) for easier mobility. Red stripes ran up their sides and around the hem. On top, she wore a sleeveless version of the jacket and on her arms she wore detached sleeves that fastened around her upper arms (An: If any of you have seen the Vocaloid, Hatsune Miku, then use that as your reference.). Over all this, Yoru wore an overcoat, hooded and emblazoned with the order's crest.

"Are you excited for your first mission?" Allen asked as they walked down the street. They had been assigned to investigate the disappearances of several young children in the area.

Yoru grinned, "Are you kidding? Of course I'm excited! I haven't been on a mission in four years, it feels great."

Their moment of happiness was cut short by the appearance of a tall figure wearing a coat and tails while sporting an elegant top hat. Tyki Mikk had just exited the large townhouse they were currently passing.

He tipped his hat to them, "Good afternoon, exorcists," he said, "fancy seeing you here."

"What are you doing here, Tyki Mikk," Allen asked, stiffly.

"My brother and I happen to live here, thank you very much." Tyki said, gesturing at the townhouse, "It's the beginning of the season, you know."

"The what?" Allen asked, confused.

"The season," Yoru interjected, "The time of year where nobles leave their country estates and come to stay in the city. It's a time where they socialize with other nobles by means of various balls and such."

"Exactly!" Tyki said, "You certainly know a lot, miss…to whom do I have the pleasure of speaking."

"The kid you tried to kill four years ago." Yoru said icily, making Allen and Lavi jump in surprise.

"HE'S THE ONE?!" they cried in unison. Yoru just nodded in response, glaring at Tyki, who smirked.

"So you remember," He replied, "Well, I must say, I was surprised to hear that you were actually a woman." He gave her a good look up and down, "You look a lot different now."

"What do you want?" Lavi said, gripping his hammer.

"Now, you don't want to make a scene here, do you?" Tyki said, grinning sinisterly.

"He's right." Lavi and Allen looked in shock at Bookman, who had spoken, "He's a noble, if we threaten him, who knows what will happen."

"Old man! Is this really the time?" Lavi cried.

"Lavi-san," Yoru said, "Bookman's right, we're not in a position to attack. Furthermore, we have a mission." She walked straight passed Tyki, not looking at him. She hated the guy's guts, why bother mingling with him any further?

They left and Tyki returned to the townhouse, "No go on the charm," he said and went off to the library, leaving the earl to think of another way to find the girl's weakness.

"This is the address," Yoru said, looking up at the townhouse in front of them. She turned to the others, "before we continue with this mission, can you all promise me something?"

Allen and the others nodded.

"Don't tell Kanda who tried to kill me."

"Why?" Link asked. Yoru honestly didn't like the caretaker, not only was he in central, he was annoying as hell.

"Because," She said, "He's got enough to deal with and I don't want him doing anything reckless."

They all nodded and Yoru proceeded to knock on the door. It was opened by a smartly dressed butler.

"Can I help you?" he asked, dryly.

"We're with the Black Order," Allen said, "Lady Blackwell summoned us."

"Ah, yes, the Black Order," The butler lead them into the entrance hall, "One moment please." He disappeared through one of the doors. A few minutes later he reappeared saying, "The lady will see you now."

They were escorted into a study; Sitting by the fire was a middle-aged woman. When she looked up, they saw that her eyes were red from crying. Seeing the exorcists she smiled watery.

"Oh, thank goodness you've come!" She said.

"Lady Blackwell," Yoru said, kneeling down by the poor woman, "The quickest way to find your son is if we get right to the details. When did he go missing?"

"About three days ago," Lady Blackwell sniffed, "But before that, he kept having dreams."

"What sort of dreams?" Allen asked.

"He said he saw children playing, following a slightly older child, playing a violin. He then said that the boy and children seemed to be calling to him, asking him to come with him."

"That sounds like the pied piper story," Lavi said.

"I'm not very familiar with western fairytales," Yoru said, "What's that one about?"

"It's about a man who promised to help a village rid themselves of a rat infestation. When he had done the deed, the village refused to pay his as they had promised. So he came back and lured away their children, who were never heard from again."

"You have the most morbid fairytales." Yoru said, "Though that does sound a lot like what's going on here."

Lady Blackwell clutched Yoru's hands, sobbing, "Please! Find my son!" she cried.

"Don't worry, Lady Blackwell," Allen said, smiling gently, "We'll find him and bring him back to you."

When they left the townhouse, they saw Kanda waiting outside.

"What're you doing here?" Yoru asked in surprise.

"Komui wanted me to switch out with Lavi and Bookman," He said, then looking at the aforementioned bookmen, "The chief said he needs you to meet up with Lenalee on a different mission. One that requires a bookman's brain. Something about a library…"

"We're on it!" Lavi said enthusiastically, just say the word 'book' and he was there.

"I did some investigating on my own," Kanda said as they walked through the city streets, "And I heard the same thing you did. The children all reported having the same dream before going missing."

"Lavi-san said it sounded a lot like the pied piper story," Yoru said.

"Yeah, more so than I originally though," Kanda replied, " I did a little research at the archives. Evidently, there was a case where a famous violinist was falsely accused of murder and on the day of his execution he claimed he would get revenge against those who had wrongly held him responsible. The families with missing children were all connected with the case in some way or another."

"So you think the innocence resurrected him?" Allen asked.

"It's possible."

"Hmm…have the children from every family involved been abducted?" Yoru asked.

"No, there's still one more family."

Yoru nodded, "Alright, let's go see them."

Yoru, Kanda, Allen, and Link stood outside of a magnificent townhouse. It belonged to the de Winter family, the family that had originally accused the violinist of the murder he did not commit. Kanda rang the bell and a maid in a scandalously short skirt opened the door.

"Welcome to the de Winter house, how may I help you?" she had a French accent… well at least that explained the skirt. (AN: THIS IS SOLELY BASED OFF OF FRENCH MAID COSTUMES. Trust me, I've been to France, they don't dress like this.)

"We need to speak to the lord of the house," Link said, looking disapprovingly at the way the maid was so liberally dressed. Showing her legs like that, he thought, so shameless.

"Oui, Oui! This way, this way," The maid led them into the house an up to a library.

"Mon seigneur," she said as she opened the door, "You have guests."

"Thank you, Catherine, you may go now," The man who'd been sitting, reading a book, up till this point, got up and greeted the exorcists. "To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing the Black Order in my house?"

"Sir, we have reason to believe that the next child to go missing in this city will be yours." Kanda said, bluntly.

"Why on earth would you think that?" Lord de Winter asked, shocked.

"The families of the missing children are connected through the execution of one person." Allen said, "The violinist, Erik Bruckenstein, he was accused of…"

"Murdering my wife." De Winter sighed, "Yes, I know now it was a mistake, we found the real criminal last year. You have no idea how much I regret what I did."

"Lord de Winter," Yoru said, "You're the only person who hasn't lost their child yet. We'll help you by doing everything we can to help protect them."

De Winter nodded, "In that case…Kitty! Bring Evangeline here!" a few minutes later Kitty came back, escorting a young woman around fifteen or sixteen years of age. Upon laying eyes on Kanda, the girl was immediately stricken. When she saw Yoru, though, a wave of jealousy washed over her.

She curtsied, "Yes, daddy?"

"Evangeline, these are representatives from the Black Order," de Winter said, gesturing at the Link and the exorcists, "They're here to protect you. You may choose one as your bodyguard."

"May I ask your names?" Evangeline asked in annoyingly girlish voice.

"Allen Walker."

"Howard Link."

"Kanda Yu."

"Kuroumi Yoru."

"hmm…then…Kanda-san?" she asked. Kanda looked annoyed, he had been praying she wouldn't choose him, he really didn't want to babysit her. Yoru giggled, she knew this would happen, but seeing the expression on Kanda's face was priceless. He rounded on her.

"You saw this coming." He growled in Japanese.

"Yep!" Yoru replied, outright laughing this time, "You should've seen your face!"

"Are you two…siblings?" Evangeline said, sincerely hoping that the answer was yes.

"Hell no!" Kanda said, speaking in English again, "I'd have disowned her by now if that was the case."

"That's nice," Yoru said, sarcastically, but still smiling, then, turning to Evangeline, "We're childhood friends."

"I see…" She was disappointed, it would be hard to win her darling Kanda-sama over with this girl around. She turned to her father, "Papa, wouldn't it be best for Kuroumi-san to keep an eye on Ashton and have Walker-san and Link-san patrol the house?"

"Quick as whip, you are!" de Winter said proudly, "That sounds like a fine idea!"

Evangeline then practically dragged Kanda out of the room.

Yoru knocked on the door to Evangeline's room. Unfortunately, Kanda wasn't the one who answered.

"What do you want?" she asked, "You're supposed to be taking care of Ashton!"

"I am, but the doctor and your father are with him now," Yoru replied coolly, " I need to talk to Kanda.

"What is it?" Kanda said, coming to the door and moving Evangeline out of the way.

"Keep an eye on the windows, It's the most likely place for the kidnapper to enter. Oh, and de Winter says if you do anything immoral to his daughter, he'll skin you alive."

"No worries there," Kanda said, then in Japanese, "Want to trade? She hasn't left me alone at all!"

"No way, I can tell she hates me, and you hate kids," Yoru replied, also in Japanese, "Ashton's the same age as Timothy and he's not in the best of health. I think it's better that I'm watching him." Yoru then said goodbye and headed back to her charge's room and Kanda was pulled back into Evageline's.


	11. Trial Suffering, the mission continues

**AN: feels like I haven't updated in forever...IDK I guess when you're swamped with school work, crew practice, diabetes management, AND trying to get your forms in order so you can study abroad, time can seem to pass weirdly...meh, anyway, chapter...11 now? geez this is getting long! Good like I like writing it! Enjoy!!**

"Ashton-kun, have you had any strange dreams lately?" Yoru asked tentatively. Her charge, Ashton de Winter, was a sickly nine-year-old boy who was confined to his room almost 24/7.

Ashton glared at her, "Don't look at me like that!" He spat, "I don't need your sympathy!"

Yoru was taken aback. Were all the lord's children rude little brats? First Evangeline and now this little snot, it pissed her off. She sighed, trying to control herself.

"Look, just answer the question." She said, bluntly.

"Why? So you can tell me I'm insane?" the brat retorted.

"What the hell is your problem?!" The Japanese teen demanded.

Ashton was shaking with anger, "I can't do anything because I'm so frail," he said bitterly, "and all people do when they see me is give me sympathy! No one plays with me or laughs with me! No one even lets me go outside! I'm sick of suffering!"

"You think you're suffering?" Yoru said quietly.

"What?"

Yoru laughed, so bitterly that it scared the child she was taking care of.

"Wh-what is your problem?" He asked, bewildered.

"You honestly think you're suffering?" Yoru asked again, now standing over the quivering boy. She leaned down, glaring right in his face, "What you're going through right now…that's nothing compared to what I've gone through." She said icily, "I've been forced away from my family only to end up being tortured every single day for over two months. I screamed and cried and begged to be let go. I never saw the sunlight I loved so much during that time. I never got to go outside and enjoy the fresh air. I wanted to die every single second of every single day. I wanted it to end! Even after the torture ended, the suffering didn't. I couldn't trust anyone except my two best friends, who were suffering just like me. Even that didn't last! I was forced to watch one of them kill the other and then watch even him start to fall apart! I haven't seen him smile once since that day. The worst is not being able to help him." Yoru paused and went over to the window, gazing at the snow falling outside. She turned back to Ashton, whose eyes were wide with shock, "But you know what?"

"What?" He asked sheepishly.

"All that pain, it's what's made me the person I am today. I almost died four years ago, but you know what saved me? All the strength that had built up from that suffering. Helpless can destroy a person completely. I turned that feeling into my drive to keep going. I fight so that I can help people who are suffering, from worse pain than yours, even worse than mine. I also fight to make that friend of mine smile. I do everything to brighten up his day a bit more and to lessen the burden he carries, even if only a little." Yoru put her hand on Ashton's head, grinning, "The key to easing your suffering is by letting it become your strength. Don't let others see you unhappy. Smile and laugh and show them that you're stronger than they think. Maybe then they'll let you do more."

Ashton blushed and turned his head away embarrassed, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," He said, but Yoru knew he didn't mean it. She started laughing, jovially this time.

"Maybe, but it's worth a shot!" She said, gasping with laughter, "Now are you going to answer my question?"

Ashton blushed again, "Yeah, I have had a dream. A man with a violin was leading a line of children. He reached out to me, beckoning me to follow."

"I see." Yoru said. It was the same dream. Her black golem, circular in shape with little cat-like ears popping out of the top, flew out of her collar, "Kanda, did Evangeline tell you anything important?"

"Tch! What HASN'T she told me? The girl won't shut up!" he said in a furious whisper.

"Has she mentioned a dream?"

"Miss de Winter, have you have any sort of weird dreams lately?"

Pause.

"FINE! Miss EVANGELINE, same question."

Pause.

"Please," came Kanda's desperate voice, "just answer the damn question."

Another pause.

"Kanda?"

"Nothing," came the monotone reply, "She hasn't mentioned anything weird."

"So he's only targeting one of them then…" Yoru thought for a minute, "Kanda, stay with Evangeline just in case."

"You're joking!"

"No I'm not, just do it, you antisocial ass!" Yoru replied, she then returned her golem to its proper place.

"What's going on?" Ashton asked nervously.

Yoru smiled, "Well it seems you're the target this time, Ash-kun."

"ASH?! And what do you mean I'm the target?"

"I called you Ash because it's cute and I mean that the dream you had is the same one that the other missing children had just before they disappeared. Don't worry," She added, seeing the look on Ashton's face, "We won't let anything happen to you."

"Promise?"

"I promise!"

"Miss exorcist?"

"Yes?"

"What's your name again?"

"Kuroumi Yoruko, but I prefer to be called Yoru. It's a nickname, just like when I called you Ash."

"Thank you for what you told me…I'll try to be stronger…"Ashton trailed off as he slipped of into dream land. Yoru smiled, ruffling the boy's hair.

"Sweet dreams, Ash-kun." Yoru turned out the light and waited. Kanda did the same in Evangeline's room. Allen and Link we standing guard on the rooftop. They were all lying in wait, waiting for the violinist to strike.

**AN: Mission will finish up in the next chapter and then we'll get a little more plot going (i.e. this is just to show Yoru in action). Just a little side note, I have an original fiction going on right now that I'm really happy with so far. I'm thinking of posting it to my FictionPress account, but I'm not sure yet...If you guys think I should and you think you'd read it if I did, please let me know and I'll post it and let you know when it's up.**


	12. Stormy Horizons: Mission Done Plot Begun

**An: Yay! new chapter! woot! So yeah...um.... oh! yeah, I have a rowing competition on the 6th so there might not be a chapter that week, okay? Anyway, enjoy the new chapter and thank you for all your support!! again, some errors, I'm sure, but hey, that's life, right?**

The window in Ashton De Winter's room opened, letting in a gentle winter breeze. The one who had opened it stepped inside, careful to remain silent. He surveyed his surroundings. His final victim lay asleep in his bed, perfectly oblivious to his presence. He cast his eyes around the rest of the room and saw another figure. A motionless girl was sleeping, her head resting on the edge of the bed and her back gently rising up and down. He smiled slightly; she would make a pretty addition to his other victims. Maybe, this time, Erik Bruckenstein would consider taking an extra victim… The supposedly deceased violinist reached out his hand to turn the girl's face to get a better look when her eyes snapped open and she seized his wrist and threw him across the room.

"Nice try," Yoru said, smirking, "but you underestimated me."

Erik stood up shakily, looking closely at the woman who had thrown him. She was of a foreign race and her exotic features pleased him. Her dark violet eyes seemed to bore into his soul, like she was searching for something. Erik noticed the symbol on her jacket. It was a very ornate cross with strange writing. He recognized it.

"The Black Order, eh?" he said, "So you're one of them?"

"Erik Bruckenstein," he started at the fact that she knew his name, "Where are the other children you've taken?"

"Now why would I tell you that?" Erik smirked, "They're mine now, I won't let you take them back."

Yoru activated her innocence and the shadows surrounded her hands. For this type of space, it'd be better to use a close-range mode. She lunged, but Bruckenstein dodged it. She paused, waiting for him to make a move. The Japanese teen didn't wait long, Bruckenstein held out his hands. A snow-white violin and bow appeared. Bruckenstein held the violin up to his chin and set the bow the strings.

"Enjoy the show," he said quietly. Yoru took her stance and the violinist began his song. A fierce string of notes made up the piece, but that wasn't all. The music summoned up a mini snowstorm that aimed itself right at Yoru. She switched to long-range mode, in hopes of using the long shadows to shield her body. It only worked in part. Ice froze her feet to the ground.

"Now you can't do a thing," the violinist said, approaching the edge of Ashton's bed, who had remained asleep the entire time. He was stopped by Yoru's shadows as they attempted to pierce him. He looked back at her; she wore a determined expression on her face. Bruckenstein approached her, instead. He summoned up a quick ice storm before she had a chance to block it. Yoru's hands were now coated in a thin, but strong, layer of ice, making it impossible to wield her innocence. Bruckenstein cupped his hand under her chin and lifted her eyes to his. She glared at him and he smirked.

"I like that," he said, "I can see it in your eyes, your determination to keep fighting. You've suffered, yet you don't let that hinder anything you do. You're quite an extraordinary woman. How old are you?"

Yoru remained silent. Bruckenstein dug his nails into the skin of her cheek and she winced, "Seventeen," she spat.

"You're so young, yet you've suffered several lifetime's worth, haven't you? You're just like me, a twenty-one year old man who's had more than his fair share of trials." He laughed, "We both also seek power from magic to help us get stronger."

"I'm nothing like you," Yoru growled, "I don't pray on the innocent, nor do I feel the necessity to avenge myself."

The violinist sighed, "I though you of all people would understand me. I just get that feeling that you are meant to understand me."

Yoru didn't respond. Bruckenstein was feeling the same thing most spirits did around her. She was meant as a liaison between them and the human world and she was also meant to help them so they could rest in peace. The thing was…Yoru had no idea how she was supposed to help this guy. The only thing she could think of was getting the innocence away from him, but she didn't know where the core of it was.

Bruckenstein spoke again, "You know what Edgar Allen Poe once said?" he asked, bringing his face closer to hers, "There's nothing more beautiful than a young dead girl."

Yoru's eyes widened as he fastened his hand over her mouth. She struggled to free herself as she felt frost slip into her throat, but to no avail. As cold began to overcome her, Yoru felt her eyes roll up into her head and her vision went black.

* * *

When she came to, Yoru was lying on the floor with Lord de Winter, Evangeline, and Kanda all bending over her. She blinked and tried to sit up, but Kanda force her lay down again.

"Don't," he said, his normally cold expression replaced with one of almost imperceptible concern, "You need to rest."

Yoru nodded, but then sat up quickly, "Ashton!" she exclaimed. This was a mistake seeing as she started coughing violently. She held her hand to her mouth and notice the ice that fell into her palm. She was coughing up the ice that Bruckenstein had used to try and kill her. She just stared at it, "Kami-sama…" she said quietly.

"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner," Kanda said, "I might have been able to help you, but Moyashi, Link and I were suddenly attacked by these giant ice creatures. It was all we could do to keep them at bay."

"It was a diversion," Yoru said, her voice hoarse, "He wanted to make sure he could get to Ashton without any interference."

"You're lucky you're not dead," De Winter said, "When we got here, you were lying on the floor and your pulse was very weak. Young Kanda here said that there was no way you were going to die, though. He was right, you came to about half an hour later."

"HALF AN HOUR?" Yoru cried, wincing as her voice tore at her throat, "Ashton could be anywhere right now!"

"Don't worry, Yoru," Kanda said, "Moyashi and his stiff caretaker are pursuing the target. Even if they get stopped, Timcampy is going to keep up the chase."

Yoru went into another fit of coughing. This time some of the ice that came out was dyed red. How far had it penetrated? Catherine entered the room a short while later, the doctor who had been checking on Ashton following in her wake.

"Mon seigneur," Catherine said, "I've brought the doctor."

"Good, good," De Winter replied, "Sir, can you please take a look at this young woman's throat?"

The doctor nodded and peered inside Yoru's mouth, "The damage is bad, but not permanent. It could take about three weeks to fully heal, but that would be only if you consumed plenty of hot beverages every day. Otherwise, it could take up to a month."

Kanda took a look around the room to find a tea set already prepared on a nearby table. He poured out a cup and handed it to Yoru.

"Here, given your rate of healing, this should be enough to fully heal you," he said.

"Thanks," Yoru rasped. The hot liquid burned her throat as she swallowed, but she endured it. After she was positive the entirety of the ice had vanished, she felt her healing powers kick into gear. She waited a couple minutes for the pain to disappear. Sure that her throat was completely healed, she spoke again. This time her voice sounded completely normal.

"We better get going and catch up with Allen," She said, standing up.

"You're healed? Just like that?" the doctor and De Winter asked in shocked unison, "That's impossible!"

"Not for someone like me," Yoru replied, "Let's go, Kanda."

The two Japanese exorcists sped out of the house, following the direction Kanda had seen Allen and Link take. Yoru turned on her wireless, seeing as there was no way to know if those two were in golem range.

"Allen-kun?"

"Yoru-san!" Allen's surprised voice came through, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Yoru replied hurriedly, "But never mind that, what about Ashton?"

"We've been chasing after him and Bruckenstein, but got held up again by the giant ice things."

Yoru swore under her breath, "Alright, did Tim go ahead?"

"Yes…he's hovering above the trees just south of the De Winter house."

Yoru looked in the indicated direction and, sure enough, the golden golem was shimmering about 2000 meters from where they were (An: I know this seems like a lot, but trust me, it's a shorter distance than you think). She and Kanda shot towards him. When they arrived, they saw an enormous frozen lake. The ice on its surface seemed at least six inches thick.

"Why is it always a lake?" Yoru asked, "My battles just have to take place on lakes, don't they?"

Kanda smirked, "Maybe it's because you were born in February?"

"I would hit you." Yoru growled, "But we need to find the missing children."

"We don't have to look far," Kanda said, gesturing to the center of the lake. Bruckenstein stood in the center, surrounded by a group of children. He held Ashton, who appeared to be unconscious, in his arms. The number of children matched the reports, but they didn't look like the exorcists had expected them to. Their skin was pale, almost translucent, and their hair was snow-white. They all wore blank expressions as well.

Yoru stared at them in horror. Their souls were crying out to her, she could hear them as they cried.

"Save us!"

"Take us away from the bad man!"

"The cold…it hurts…make it stop!

"Please! Help us!"

The cries wrenched at Yoru's heart. She glared at Bruckenstein.

"YOU BASTARD!" she screamed, "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!"

"Try it if you can," the violinist replied, putting his instrument under his chin. As he played a blizzard sprang up and the creatures that Kanda had mentioned sprang out of it. Yoru saw that now that he hadn't been exaggerating when Kanda said they were huge. They looked like they were over twelve feet tall! The Japanese girl knew neither her long distance form nor her short range was going to be enough. She saw Kanda activate Mugen's second stage our of the corner of her eye. She took a breath and focused her energy on her innocence. She closed her eyes

_Meibatsu…can you hear me?_

_Yes, master, you can communicate with me because you are a crystal type._

_Why didn't you tell me that earlier?_

_You didn't ask._

_Tch! Never mind, what do I have to do to release the second state? Is it the same way I did when I was still an equipment type?_

_Yes, master._

Yoru's eyes shot back open as placed her right palm on the back of her left hand.

"Innocence! Daimikaiho!!" the bracelets shifted into a magnificent scythe. The blade was of the same transparent red crystal as Yoru's deactivated innocence and was colored black with the same swirling shadows. The handle was black with intricate red designs inlaid into it.

"Let's go!" Kanda yelled as he lunged at the monsters. Yoru followed suit, swinging her blade and bringing it down on the monster in front of her. It was a clean cut, the monster fell with a resounding crash. It was the same for Kanda. More monsters came out of the storm and the snow was starting to obstruct their vision. The two Japanese teens closed their eyes and remembered what they had been taught, Yoru by her father, Kanda by Marie.

_Yoru, when it gets foggy like this at sea, don't let it stop you._

_Kanda, if you ever can't use your eyes in battle, this it what you do._

_Just close your eyes and focus on the sounds around you._

_If there's another ship coming, you will hear a shift in the waves._

_You will hear your enemy's footsteps and be able to counter before they strike you._

The two of them focused on the commotion that the monsters were making. Before they made they their move, though, Kanda called out to his partner.

"Yoru! Split up and find the kids," he shouted over the roar of the storm, "I'll beat these guys back and you go on ahead!"

Yoru didn't argue. As much as she wanted to stay, she had a job to do. The children took priority over everything else, and so did getting the innocence. With her eyes still closed, she charged into the thickest part of the snow. If this was anything like the storms she'd been in at sea, the most logical place to head, and where the children might be, would be the eye of the storm. Unfortunately that always involved going through the most dangerous part in order to get there.

* * *

The exorcist finally pushed through the storm and, sopping wet and freezing, made her way into the calmness of the eye.

"To think you'd make it here." Yoru turned to face Bruckenstein, who was sitting on a throne made, not surprisingly, out of ice. Ashton, still unconscious, but thankfully normal, was in his lap. The other children, their souls still crying out to her, were huddled around the base of the throne.

"So tell me," the violinist said, resting his cheek on his hand, "how did you survive?"

Yoru didn't take the time to answer. She slipped off her overcoat, it was only acting as a dead weight, and lunged at Bruckenstein with her scythe. He dodged as she sliced the throne in half.

"That's new," he commented. Yoru wondered why he didn't attack, was the storm consuming too much of his energy? She was mistaken, Bruckenstein pointed a finger at the children, Ashton was still in his grasp, and Yoru saw an ornate silver ring with a frost-blue crystal set into it. It was the source of his power, the innocence.

Still pointing at the children Bruckenstein spoke, "It's time for you to serve me, little ones. Kill this girl or, at the very least, incapacitate her so I can finish the job, myself."

Yoru stared in amazement as the children began to change shape. Their limbs elongated and their face seemed to stretch. Next thing she knew, Yoru was surrounded by a pack of vicious wolves. Yoru could still hear their spirits crying out to her. Unable to bring herself to fight them, she deactivated her innocence.

"Done are we?" the violinist scoffed, "You're not even worth my trouble. Kill her, my precious darlings."

It was at this time that Ashton came to. He saw the wolves lunge at his exorcist protector and screamed.

"NOOOOOOO!!! Yoru-san!!" he cried, but it was too late. The wolves, however reluctantly, sank their teeth into Yoru's flesh. Ashton watched in horror as they tore at the skin of her arms and legs. The worst point was when one of the wolves seized her neck and Ashton heard the sickening crack as it broke.

"That's enough, my pretties," Bruckenstein said gently. The wolves backed away from Yoru's bloody and mangled form. The violinist put Ashton on the ground and, gripping the boy's hand, led him over the fallen exorcist.

He nudged her with his foot, "Pathetic," he sniffed, "Your weakness caused your death. I do think it's a pity, though, since you're so young."

"Y-Yoru-san," Ashton sobbed, "y-you can't be dead! You said nothing would happen to me…YOU PROMISED!!"

Bruckenstein let the boy sink to his knees. He could have his mourning time, the violinist would change him when the boy was through. As he turned to walk over and praise his precious wolves, he felt his arm being yanked back. After he hit the ground hard, he twisted to see Yoru's bloody hand, black tendrils coming from the bracelets on her hands.

"Impossible!" Bruckenstein cried. Broken limbs seemed to snap back into place and blood was no longer spilling from what should have been still open wounds, "HOW ARE YOU ALIVE?!!!!"

Yoru stood, massaging her neck and inspecting her uniform, "Geez, that hurt, and you ruined my new uniform." She smirked down at the struggling violinist, who was now completely restricted by her innocence, "surprised?" she asked as she wiped the blood away from her mouth. Bruckenstein writhed the grip of her innocence.

"HOW ON EARTH ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!! I WATCHED MY WOLVES MANGLE YOU AND HEARD ONE SNAP YOUR NECK!!" he screeched.

"That's my little secret," Yoru replied, smiling, "Now, if you don't mind, I'll be taking that ring of yours." She plucked the piece of silver off his finger. With an agonizing yell, Bruckenstein shattered into a million pieces, just like a thin layer of ice. The storm instantly died down and the children returned to their normal state.

"YORU!!" the exorcist turned to see Kanda, Allen and Link running over to her. They all looked at her, shocked to see the amount of blood she was covered in.

"Are you alright?" Allen asked.

Yoru nodded, "I'm fine," she said, holding up the ring, "I've got the innocence." She tossed it to Kanda, who slipped it into his pocket.

Yoru sank to the ground as Ashton flung himself around her waist, "Yoru-san!" he sobbed, "I thought you were really dead! How did you survive the wolves?"

Yoru smiled warmly and ruffled his hair, "It's just the way I am," she replied.

"We ought to get everyone home," Link said, looking at the other children, who had fallen asleep when the innocence deactivated.

Everyone nodded and Yoru picked up Ashton and put him on her shoulders, "Let's get you home, Ash."

"Yeah," Ashton replied.

* * *

"well it seems everything went relatively smoothly," Komui said as he read the reports.

"I only hope that Ashton gets to do more now," Yoru said sadly, "his dad wasn't to happy about his being outside for so long."

"I'm sure it'll all work out," Komui replied grinning.

"Yeah," she replied and began to walk away.

"Hold on, Yoru," Komui called. Yoru turned back to him with a questioning look, "Congratulations," the chief said, grinning, "for successfully completing your first mission in four years! Well done!"

Yoru smiled back, "Thanks a million, Komui," she said brightly, running off to go meet Kanda and the others for a celebratory dinner.

As they laughed and ate, the exorcist felt as if nothing could ruin their happiness. However, a funny little thing we call fate has a way of messing with that. As Yoru laughed and joked along with her friends, she was completely unaware of the events that would befall her, Kanda, and Allen that would throw the order into the most chaotic time it had ever scene.

**

* * *

An: Finally, some actual plot progression in the next chapter! This was really only for you guys to see Yoru in mission mode and it turned out being longer that I anticipated. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and will continue to read it.**


	13. A Brief Intermission of Past and Romance

**An: So my competition was canceled and now I'm in a knee sleave...oh joy -_- anyway, new chapter. I write a lot better in first person narrative so from now on the fic will be in first person POV. This one is all in Yoru's POV, but I tend to switch around. Hope you enjoy!**

"_Wait, I still don't quite understand. What exactly is going on with my daughter? Who are you all anyway?"_

"_Black Order Asian Branch Director, Twi Chan," I watched as my father shook hands with the strange woman. One by one the others present introduced themselves as well._

"_Sirlen Epstein."_

"_Lenny Epstein."_

"_Edgar Chan."_

_I watched my father shook hands with all of them. I wanted to know what they were here for. I didn't quite get what was going on. Earlier that day, while we were restocking our ship at Shanghai, some weird monsters had attacked us. The bracelets my father had given to me suddenly began to glow and black things shot out of them and destroyed the monsters. After the shock, everyone just continued what they were doing until my brothers came back and announced that there were some people who wanted to meet with my father. I sat on his lap, wondering why they were so interested in me._

"_Captain Kuroumi," The woman, Twi Chan, said, "We have reason to believe that your daughter is an accommodator of a substance we call Innocence."_

"_What on earth is that?" my father asked confused._

"_To put it simply," The one called Edgar was speaking now, "Your daughter has been chosen by God to fight as his apostle. The Black Order exists in order to combat the dark forces that threaten to destroy all of humanity. If young…," he looked at me, "May I ask your name miss Kuroumi?"_

"_Y-Yoruko," I said sheepishly, "But everyone just calls me Yoru."_

"_Well then, Yoru-chan," Edgar said smiling, "If you come to the Black Order, we will be able to assign you to a general who will train you how to use your powers to their full extent. When this war is over, you can go back home to your family."_

_I nodded._

"_But how do I know you'll take care of her?" my father asked, pulling me in closer."_

"_We take care of all of our exorcists," Sirlin was saying, "They live comfortably when not on the battle field and we provide the best culinary and medical services for them. We've developed revolutionary communications devices as well. And you need not worry about the combat. Yoru will not be sent out to the field until her general decides she is ready. Her general will also be with her for all her early missions. As she grows stronger we will send her out with fellow students who are more advanced and later she will progress to going solo or even lead teams herself."_

"_The way you say it," my father said sadly, "makes it sound like she won't be home for a very long time."_

"_War takes time," Sirlin replied, "Yoru most likely will not return for quite a number of years. Please understand it is necessary. This war has been fought bitterly for too long and in order to end it, we need exorcists like your daughter to fight for us. Yes, it will be hard for you both, but we need all the accommodators we can get."_

"_We don't want to force you," Edgar said, "But, given our situation, if you can't grant us this, we will have to resort to more drastic measures."_

_My father shook his head, "That won't be necessary," he said, he looked down at me and smiled, "Yoru, I want you to be a good girl while you're gone, okay? Make us all proud and when everything is over with, we'll be waiting for you with open arms!"_

_I looked at my dad and started crying, "I don't want to, but if you tell me to, I'll go."_

"_That's my girl," my father said, patting me on the head, "Now go say goodbye to the twins."_

_After a tearful goodbye to the twins and the crew, I found myself riding with Dr. and Mrs. Chan and Mr. Epstein and his daughter. On the way we were attacked by the things they called Akuma. My Innocence activated by itself again and destroyed them, but I got hit with a bullet in my side in the process. The Chans rushed to me._

"_No! We can't lose one so soon!," Edgar cried, trying to stem the flow._

"_Dr. Chan," I said weakly, "I'll be fine, just wait a second."_

"_What?" Edgar watched in amazement as my priestess healing powers kicked in. My gash healed almost instantly._

_Everyone stared at me and I explained where I'd gotten my powers. I didn't like the hungry look Epstein was giving me._

"_I think we've just found the solution to our problem," he said._

"_Sirlin!" Twi said, "Absolutely not! She's an apostle! We can't subject to that experiment!"_

"_Well I say we see what central says." I had no idea what they were talking about, but the combined use of my innocence and healing powers had taken a toll on my eight year old body. My eyes slipped shut and I lost consciousness._

_When I woke up I was lying on some sort of operating table. Sirlin, Lenny, and some people I'd never scene before were standing around me. What really bothered was the people standing at the corners of the room, blocking the only available exit in the process. They wore strange robes that covered their faces. They scared me. I tried to move, but my limbs felt very heavy._

"_Epstein-san," I said weakly, "What's going on?"_

_Sirlin didn't answer. A brown haired man I didn't know came forward._

"_Yoru, my name is Reever Wenham," he said, "Central has authorized us to research the extent of your healing powers in order to possibly use your DNA in an ongoing research project."_

_I didn't want this, but I couldn't move to do anything, probably from drugs. Tears began to fall down from my eyes into my hair, "Please, don't do this."_

"_It's a direct order," Reever said sadly, "I'm sorry, but I have no choice."_

_The pain of the experiments was almost unbearable. I remembered screaming every time and the painful drugs they injected in my arms. I wanted so desperately to go outside. I lost track of all sense of time and had no idea when it was that they finally released me._

_After I had been cleaned up and put in a sleeveless yukata a pair of short pants (AN: I'm referring to Capri pants here, but they didn't call them that back then and I like to be somewhat historically accurate), I was taken to Twi Chan's office. When I had entered, Edgar pulled me into a hug that I didn't return. It wasn't out of anger, but something seemed to have died in me after all those experiments. I thought I could trust these people and had been betrayed. I didn't think I'd ever be able to trust again._

"_I'm so sorry," Edgar said, "We begged them not to, but central forced this on us. I'm so sorry."_

_I didn't answer, just listened. When he was through apologizing I just shook my head._

"_It doesn't matter anymore," It startled even me how much life had left my voice, "As long as it's over, I don't care."_

"_Yoru…" Edgar looked at me sadly. He stood up, "Twi, I think it's best if we conduct rehabilitation over in Bak's section. After all, Marie's over there and I think it'll be good for Yoru to meet another exorcist."_

_Twi nodded, "Yes, I think Bak would be the best one for this."_

_Edgar pat me on the head, "Yoru-chan, you and I are going to get you something to eat, then we're going to go to a different section of the branch where you can train and work on getting your strength back, okay?"_

_I nodded._

_We proceeded into the dining hall and Edgar took me up to order something to eat._

"_Zhu!" he called._

_An old man came to the counter, "What is it, son?" he asked, then he looked down at me, "Well! Who do we have here?"_

"_This is Kuroumi Yoru," Edgar said, "Yoru, this is my father, Zhu Chan. He can make you whatever you like."_

_I thought for a moment, "Sushi?"_

_Zhu chuckled, "Piece of cake!" moments later he came back with a tray of sushi and something for Edgar. We went and sat down at a table with Reever and a couple other people who had worked on me._

_Reever smiled hesitantly, "Good to see you up and about," he said, "I'm…"_

"_Please don't apologize," I said, smiling gently (it was difficult, but I did it), "you didn't have a choice."_

_He smiled back at me, "I'm still glad to see you outside of that room," he replied. He looked at my tray, "You sure like fish, don't you?"_

_I nodded, "I don't like other meat very much, so I just stick with this."_

_After lunch, Edgar and Reever both accompanied me to a section of the Asian Branch that was far away from the area I had been in. I was glad, I didn't want to be near that room I had been stuck in for who knows how long._

_We were met by a jovial looking man who looked a lot like Edgar, he shook my hand rigorously._

"_Hi there! You must be Kuroumi Yoru!" he said excitedly, "I'm Bak Chan, section leader of this part of the branch," He looked at Edgar, "I can take it from here, father."_

_Edgar nodded, "I'll come visit when I have time," he said to me, "no one will hurt you here."_

_He left and I was left to the excitable Bak. I looked up at him as he grinned at me._

"_Dr. Edgar is your father?"_

"_Yup! Twi is my mother," he said, "What about your family?"_

"_My dad is a ship captain and my mother is a priestess. I have twin older brothers."_

"_Cool! Why don't you tell me about them while I show you around?"_

_I nodded. I chatted with Bak as he showed me the section of the branch I would be in. He pointed out the way to the dining hall, which was different from the one Zhu managed. He showed me my room, which was simple, but nice and comfortable, and the training ground._

"_You'll be doing strength training here," he said, "And, once you've done that, you'll train with your innocence here until we assign you to a general."_

_I nodded, then noticed a man sitting on a low wall that separated the canal from the grounds. He was playing a pretty song with some strings attached to his hands._

"_Ah! Marie! You're here!"_

"_Ah, is that…?"_

"_It's Bak Chan."_

_I noticed the bandages on the man's eyes. He had obviously been hurt in battle._

"_Marie, I have someone to introduce you to," he said, nudging me forward, "A future exorcist named Kuroumi Yoru. Yoru, this is Noise Marie."_

_I took Marie's hand, since he couldn't see mine, "Nice to meet you, Marie-san," I said, kindly._

"_Nice to meet you to Yoru," he said in a rich deep voice._

_The next few months were spent training and working with my innocence. I was starting to smile again and I was actually enjoying the time I spent in the branch. Bak and I would often go on hikes and I would spend plenty of time with Edgar and Twi when they visited. Overall, I was fine._

_One day I finally asked Bak a question that had been bothering me for a while._

"_Bak? Why did Sirlin need my DNA?"_

_Bak looked at me awkwardly. He then explained the details on the second exorcist program. I was actually taken to meet the two who were awake and being tested on. The encounter was rocky at first, but eventually, we became friends._

_Then Alma went on a rampage._

_I remember watching in horror as Yu was forced to cut down Alma and all the depression I felt afterwards. I cut off my hair and shut almost everyone out. The only people I ever really felt I could trust were Marie, Kanda, and General Klaud. Everyone else was just there._

_Over time, it got easier and I started to trust again. I made new friends and was able to interact again. Until…_

"_You have a mission?"_

_I looked at Kanda, who was sitting across from me, and nodded, "I'm heading to Scotland to answer reports about a monster in Loch Ness."_

"_It's solo this time right?"_

"_Yeah, well except for the finders."_

_I left shortly afterward and was ambushed at Loch Ness._

I lifted my head from the window. I didn't normally reflect on my past like that, but sometimes it just happened.

Komui's voice came through my golem and brought me out of my reverie.

"Everyone to the cafeteria now! It's time for the festivities to begin!" came the annoyingly jolly voice, "I expect appropriate themed attire!"

I sighed. Right, it was the Christmas party, the night where no one was allowed to take a mission and where everyone stayed up until midnight to get to December 25th.

I wore my usual black pants and boots and slipped on a white sleeveless yukata top. It was accentuated with dark green embroidery, so it matched the theme pretty well. I left my hair down since it was a special occasion and headed off to the cafeteria.

The entire dining hall was decked out in an array of silver, red, white, and green. A gigantic Christmas tree was ornately decorated and placed in the center of all the elegantly decked tables. They were draped with white table clothes and clusters of green and red candles rested on their surfaces.

Allen and Lavi waved me over to their table. Lenalee, Marie, Johnny, and Didi were there as well as Timothy and Miranda. I took my seat and we began talking excitedly and enjoying the feast that Jerry had prepared for us. Kanda waltzed in shortly afterward with his usual scowl. He too was decked out in a yukata style shirt, though his was Black with silver embroidery.

"Yu and Yoru are like twins!" Lavi joked.

Kanda just gave his usual 'tche!' and ignored him. I laughed, this night was turning out to be pretty fun. We exchanged gifts later and continued to enjoy ourselves. When midnight struck there was an all around cheer of 'MERRY CHRISTMAS!" and 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLEN!!' rang through the hall.

When the fun came to an end, Kanda and I were walking back to our rooms. He suddenly grabbed my hand.

"I want to show you something," he said and pulled me onto the elevator that went to Hevlaska's chamber. When we got there, my eyes widened in shock.

Alma was comatose in a tank of some sort of liquid. I turned to Kanda.

"That…can't be…"

He nodded, "I didn't want to believe it either," he said, "But that is indeed Alma. I thought it'd be nice to wish him a merry Christmas."

I nodded, "Merry Christmas, Alma," I said, placing a small kiss on the glass by his cheek.

Kanda and I left and as we headed back to our rooms, we passed under an arch that was decked out in mistletoe. Kanda and I both looked up at each other awkwardly. Then, to my complete surprise, he swept in and pressed his mouth against mine. After he pulled away, I just stared at him, watching the blush creep up his face and feeling it creep up mine.

"I-I…" he stuttered, trying to find the right words to say. I shook my head and pulled him down into another kiss.

"I love you too, idiot," I said. Then I went back to my room and felt like the happiest person alive as I fell asleep.


	14. Alma Noah Kanda Yoru Exorcists

**An: New Chapter!! Okay, I don't know when I'll be updating this next. I've got a lot going on right now so I might have to put this on hiatus for little bit. Don't worry, it won't be nearly as long as Katsura Hoshino's hiatuses. Anyway, please enjoy**

An resounding explosion echoed through the halls of the order, making my room shake. I sat bolt upright and looked at the clock. 4:30 am, a morning attack? Or was Komui screwing around with something? No, if anyone was zonked out at this hour, it would be him.

Quietly, a voice came over the golem resting on my bedside table.

"Exorcists! Noah! Attacking! Help!" Hevlaska was terrified. Obviously she was hiding herself if she was whispering. I sprang out of bed and forced on my boots, not bothering to put on something longer than the shorts I was currently wearing. I slipped off my yukata and just wore the tank underneath, I needed full mobility of my arms for this fight.

I burst into the hall and almost collided with Lenalee.

"Yoru! Noah!"

"Yeah, I heard," I said shortly as we sprinted towards Hevlaska's chamber. Lavi and Kanda got there at the same time.

"Yoru! Lenalee!" Lavi exclaimed, "You guys heard it too?"

We nodded, "The announcement went out to all of us, I think," I said, "But since it's currently just the four of us, we ought to come up with a strategy of some sort."

"I don't think we'll have time for that," Kanda said, "Hevlaska can't be left alone for too long, she holds all the unsynchronized innocence fragments. A prime target for the Noah."

"What do we do?" Lenalee asked, "We can't take the elevator, they'll hear us."

"Well you and Yoru can get us down there without being noticed," Lavi said, "Lenalee can one of us via the Dark Boots and Yoru can take the other via Meibatsu."

I nodded, "Considering innocence types…Lavi should probably go with Lenalee," I said, "Lenalee's Kirkikaze can amplify Lavi's Maruhi to a large extent. Kanda needs mobility of both arms in order to use Nigen in order to defend both of us since I can't attack if both my arms are occupied."

Everyone nodded, "Let's go," Kanda said, "We can't wait for reinforcements."

Lenalee activated her Dark Boots and I activated Meibatsu. Lavi positioned himself so that he'd be able to fight while still being kept aloft by Lenalee and they hovered over the elevator shaft. With one hand, I wrapped the black shadows around Kanda's waist as he readied Mugen for battle. With the other, I attached them to one of the large columns. We then proceed down the shaft.

When we got to the bottom of the shaft, we saw three Noah crowded around Alma's tank. They hadn't noticed us yet so we hid in the shadows. Lavi whispered something to Lenalee before silently making his way over to us.

"I told her to go for help once she got an opening," he said, "We can't do this alone."

Kanda and I nodded, "Should we charge, or strike from the shadows?" Kanda asked.

"Either way, we'll get found out," I said, "Odds are they've anticipated both moves." I paused at stared at the deep pool of water that occupied most of the chamber. Most likely, Hevlaska had hidden herself underneath it's surface. This thought gave me and idea. I motioned the guys in closer and whispered it to them. They nodded, it was something the Noah probably hadn't planned on. I quietly slipped into the water and swam up beside where the Noah were standing. I could only my breath for so long, though. I used Meibatsu to latch onto the first Noah I sensed. I used that to propel myself up and out of the water and smash another Noah in the face. Kanda and Lavi both charged from their hiding places. The Noah I had originally latched onto had been knocked into the water and was now climbing out, sputtering. I spun around to see a sopping wet Tyki Mikk.

"You exorcist bitch," he growled.

"Noah," I said curtly, activating my scythe.

He grinned, "That's new, I don't remember seeing that when I killed you."

My eyes flashed with anger, "Your cowardly tactics didn't give me the chance," I snapped. No, don't let him get to you, stay calm. I regulated my breathing and focused back on Mikk, "The past doesn't matter anyway," I said, "What matters now is that I finally have the chance to kill you."

He grinned, "Pity, I'm actually not your opponent." A girlish giggled made me spin around. A girl with blue-black hair that stuck up at weird angles was grinning down at me from her seat on some sort of umbrella. She waved.

"Hi there, Yoru-chan!" she said, "Let's play!"

I gripped my scythe, preparing for her first move.

_**Kanda's POV**_

Lavi and I had both rushed forward to confront the Noah as soon as Yoru had thrown one of them into the water. We both ended up against the same one, though, a hulking guy who I think was called Mercym. I saw Yoru confront Mikk as he climbed out of the water. Their familiarity was disconcerting, though, had they met before? I saw Yoru switch to using her scythe and watched as Mikk smirked.

"That's new," he said.

They had met before.

"I don't remember seeing that when I killed you."

WHAT?

I was furious. That bastard Tyki Mikk was the one that had ambushed Yoru all those years ago! And now, considering how he was speaking to her, was he flirting?! My jealously was growing, no way was this bastard going to get anywhere with MY Yoru. My Yoru, the girl I had kissed only hours before!

"I finally have the chance to kill you."

I stopped short in my move to go and engage Mikk, myself. Yoru wanted this fight, wanted the chance to destroy the man who had put her out of action for so long.

"Pity, I'm actually not your opponent."

Wait…he was refusing? I saw Yoru turn and face that Road girl.

"Yu! Stop them!" I turned to Lavi, "Road plays a very dangerous mind game with her opponents! She uses their memories against them!"

I looked at him wide-eyed in horror. Yoru had gone through hell in the past. I rushed forward to try and stop the fight before it began, but was blocked by Mikk.

"MOVE IT!" I shouted angrily.

"Too bad you won't be able to save your girlfriend, huh?" his fist connected with my gut before I had a chance to block and I was thrown backwards. We fought back and forth for several minutes when an agonizing scream broke through the commotion. I looked and saw Yoru clutching her head, her face contorted in agony. Tears ran down her face from screwed-shut eyes. She was down on her knees, unable to concentrate enough to keep her innocent activated.

"STOP!" She screamed, "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

Road looked down at her with a sadistic gleam in her eyes, "Tyki!" she said, giggling, "Your turn!"

Mikk sprang away from me and, before I could blink, his hand was around her throat. Yoru's eyes were unfocused as he tightened his grip, clearly still under the influence of Road's technique. I rushed forward, but was blocked by Mercym. I saw Lavi unconscious on the ground behind him. I watched in horror and frustration as Yoru's eyes slipped shut and she slid out of consciousness.

"YORU!" my voice tore at my throat as I screamed. I saw Mikk bend down and I shouted furiously, "GET AWAY FROM HER, YOU BASTARD!"

"Don't worry," the Noah said slyly, picking up Yoru's limp form bridal-style, "We're not going to kill her. We need her to further our plans with Alma. You've already played your part, let your girlfriend have her turn."

"DAMN YOU, TYKI MIKK!" I shouted as Road's door appeared. Mercym tossed me into the water and when I resurfaced, Alma, Yoru, and the Noah were gone. I slammed my fist into the ground in frustration, creating a sizeable crack.

I felt someone's hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Lenalee looking at me in concern, "Kanda! What happened? Where's Yoru?"

"Gone," I said bitterly, "She and Alma, both gone, taken by those bastards."

"Did they say what they needed her for?" I glared as Rouvelier addressed me.

"The same reason they needed me at the North American Branch," I growled, "They plan to use her to wake up Alma."

"Inspector!" Komui was beside me now, "You don't think they've figured it out?"

I looked at the idiot chief questioningly, "Figured WHAT out, Komui?"

"Yoru's blood, along with your memories, is the key to unlock the seal on Alma," Rouvelier explained, "This is very bad."

"No shit, you moron!" I said angrily, "What on earth were you thinking when you planned this out?!"

"Kanda-kun, calm down," I seized Komui by the collar.

"You expect me to calm down?!"

"Please, Kanda, you need to. Being rash isn't going to solve anything. I promise, we'll get Yoru back, but we need a plan first!"

I let go, my shoulders slumping and my head falling forward. Of course, plans, we had no idea where she was, nor did we have enough man power to take down our enemies. Waiting was going to be hell and I knew we wouldn't get to Yoru in time. She'd probably be dead by the time we got there.

Komui put a comforting hand on my shoulder and I shrugged it off. I didn't need sympathy at this point, I needed fucking results. I went back to my room and collapsed onto my bed. I'd think of something after I'd rested.

_**Yoru's POV**_

I was first aware of the horrible pounding in my head. I tried to lift it, then realized that that was a really bad idea. I was next aware of the darkness. I knew my eyes were open, but I couldn't see anything, no matter how wide I did open them. They must've been covered. I tried to move my hands in order to remove it, then realized they were bound behind my back and my arms were pinned to my sides, my legs were in a similar state. My throat was throbbing painfully from the wad of cloth that had been forced into my mouth, held in place by a second strip tied around the outside of my mouth. My bonds must have been imbued with dark matter, for, even though I could feel Meibatsu on my wrists, I could neither activate nor communicate with him.

The sound of footsteps caught my attention. I heard the person kneel down and felt them slip a finger under my jaw, checking my pulse. The blindfold was then removed from my eyes and I glared up at Tyki Mikk.

"So you're awake," he said, smirking, "The Earl will be pleased."

My eyes widened at his last statement. Mikk laughed, pulling me up by one of my arms, someone else grabbed the other and I saw a man who looked very similar to Mikk.

"This is my brother, Sheryl," Tyki said, nodding at the grinning man, "The Noah of Desire."

"The Earl can't wait to meet you!" Sheryl said, still grinning as he and Mikk dragged me out of the cell I was in and down a long corridor. We entered a large chamber and I saw Alma positioned in the center, along with the Noah girl who had tortured me with my own memories and the white-haired guy who had attacked me and Lenalee in Scotland. The ridiculously fat man in front of Alma I recognized as the Millennium Earl, himself. I was thrown at his feet and winced as my already pounding head hit the floor.

"Welcome, Kuroumi Yoru!" the Earl said in a jovial voice, "To the awakening of Alma Karma!"

I looked at him in shock. Alma? Awake? How on earth would he accomplish that? The fat Earl chuckled at my surprise and confusion as he bent down and removed the gag. I coughed out the cloth fibers that had stuck in my throat.

"What the fuck are you going to do?" I asked, glaring at the earl.

"My, temper, temper," the earl said, grinning at me, "And quite the sailor's mouth, too! Well, I'd replace the gag, but we can't have you drowning in your own blood!"

"What-!" I was cut short as the Noah girl slipped a knife into my gut. Blood pooled at the back of my throat and Mikk hoisted me into a sitting position so I could cough it up. I felt my vision shake as blood poured out of the wound. The girl had left the knife in its place so I couldn't heal. I watched as the dark red liquid was absorbed by Alma's tank. The symbols around it glowed and Mikk tugged the blade out of my stomach.

"You've given us enough," he said grinning. My vision, still slightly blurred at the edges, steadied itself as the wound closed completely.

The symbols continued to glow and suddenly Alma's tank shattered. Alma, himself was engulfed in a bright light that momentarily blinded me. When I was able to see again, I saw Alma, but not the alma from the tank. No, it was the grown version of the Alma I had known as a child. There were no symbols or scars on his body and his hair was no longer white, but the black it had been before Kanda was forced to fight him. Sheryl handed him something and sent him behind a screen I hadn't noticed before. He came back in a pair of black slacks and a white collared shirt that he left unbuttoned. He was still barefoot and his wet hair was not secured in a low ponytail. I stared at the image of what Kanda and I had predicted Alma would have looked like if he was our age.

"Ah! Good Morning Alma-kun!" the Earl said happily, "How are you?"

Alma looked at the earl, "A little disoriented…?"

"Perfectly normal! Well, everything will be explained!" The Earl glanced at me, "Actually, what has happened up until this point can be explained by an old friend of yours."

Alma stared at me, "Yoru?"

I nodded. A giant smile broke out across his face and he rushed over to me. He pulled me into a bone-crushing hug, ignoring the fact that I was currently unable to move.

"I missed you!!!" he said, "How are y-!" he stopped short, finally taking note of my blood soaked shirt and my bonds, "What's going on? Why are you…?"

"We knew Yoru wasn't going to come willingly to our little party for you," Tyki said, stepping behind me. I heard a series of various clicks and clatters as I was released, "So we had to go and get her, ourselves. Consider it like a present."

"Um…I don't really understand…"Alma looked at me with a hurt expression, "Why wouldn't you come to wake me up?"

I looked at him sadly, "I only found out you were alive very recently," I said, "And I wasn't even sure if waking you up was a good idea. We didn't know how you would act…"

Alma glared at me, "So you thought it'd be better to coop me up like that?"

I shook my head, "That's not it!" I said desperately, "Kanda and I spent the last nine years thinking you were dead! We didn't know central had chosen to keep you alive!" I was close to tears, I didn't want to lose him again, "Please, Alma, don't be angry, we didn't want this for you!"

Alma's expression softened, then suddenly contorted in pain. He doubled over and clutched his head.

"Alma!" I said, holding him close, "Are you alright?!"

"It…hurts…!" I watched in horror as his skin began to darken. He was turning into a Noah?!

I felt something wet splatter onto my leg as it hit the floor. I looked down and saw black blood. Horrified, I stared as the ring of crosses extended over Alma's forehead.

He seemed to be alright after a few minutes. I rubbed his back gently, "Are…are you okay?"

A sharp jab in my side made me cry out. I looked and saw blades protruding from Alma's knuckles. Lightening was running through them, making the pain in my side grow worse. Suddenly, the blades disappeared and Alma's skin reverted back to normal as he looked up at me, shaking. He saw the blood coming from my side.

"Yoru! I'm sorry!" he said, "I didn't mean to-!"

"Shut up."

He looked at me, confused, reaching out to me, "What?"

"Don't touch me!" I said, smacking his hand away, "You shouldn't show sympathy to an enemy!"

"I thought we were friends…"

I was shaking with frustration and anger. My best friend, whom I had just gotten back, was now a Noah, my sworn enemy.

"Why did it have to be this way?" I said sadly.

"Yoru I don't understa-!"

"I'M AN EXORCIST, ALMA!" I shouted, "I'm an enemy of the Noah Clan, okay?! I'm not like Kanda, either, I'm a natural accommodator, not a second exorcist! I've been chosen by God to destroy you and the other Noah Clansmen."

I barely registered the Earl motioning for everyone else to leave in order to 'give us a moment'. I was crying now, frustrated beyond belief. I jumped as Alma suddenly took hold of my hand. He examined the bracelets on my wrists.

"This is innocence, right?" I nodded, wondering what he was planning.

"This is what makes you and Yu exorcists, right?" (An: Lol, play on words there, much?).

Again, I nodded.

"So if I destroy these and Yu's innocence weapon," he said slowly, "You two won't be exorcists and we can still be friends."

I stared at him in shock, tugging my hand out of his grip, "Alma! You wouldn't! Not to me and Kanda!"

"If it keeps us from having to kill each other, I will do whatever it takes," Alma said, firmly. He gripped my wrists tightly.

"ALMA DON'T!" It was too late, the red crystal shattered and dissolved. I sat there, shocked into silence, unable to believe I had lost my innocence a second time. Suddenly and slight prickling sensation ran through the cross-shaped marks on my hands. I looked down and saw blood trickling out of them. The blood hardened and encased my hands. It flashed for a second and then I saw the bracelets back on my wrists. I stared at them for a moment, then I was overcome by a wave of dizziness and passed out.


	15. A Lovely Little Series of Plot Twists

**An: A double update to make up for the fact that the next one probably won't be until March. Hope you enjoy! As always, some errors here and there, but I hope you can get past them.**

**Some little notes: Amaterasu is the Japanese sun goddess and Tsukiyomi is the god of the moon.**

I awoke looking up at a large stretch of fabric. I sat up and looked around at what seemed to be a luxurious bedroom. The curtains around the canopy bed were drawn, but they were made of a semi-transparent cloth so I could still see my surroundings relatively well. I took note of the dim light and saw the moon shining in from the large window to my left. A glass pitcher of water sat on the bedside table and I suddenly became aware of the dryness in my throat. I lifted a hand to pull back the curtain, then stopped.

Around my wrist, covering the cross marks on my hands, was a black wristlet that emitted a soft purplish glow. I sighed as I recognized the dark matter: sure as hell wasn't out of the woods yet. I gave up on the idea of taking any water from the pitcher seeing as I had no idea if it was drugged or not.

I slipped out of the bed and walked around the room, taking note of how stiff my legs were. What had once been a roaring fire had now dulled into glowing embers that cast a dim light about the room. I sat by it, taking comfort in its warmth, and stared out the window and up at the moon. How many times had I done this? How often have I gazed up at Tsukiyomi-sama and taken comfort in his existence? Yes, being an exorcist, I was supposed to be Christian, but that didn't mean I didn't believe in the Shinto gods. I believed that God himself had created them in order to protect his domain and comfort his people. As a priestess, I was given a guardian deity at birth. My mother's was Amaterasu and mine was Tsukiyomi. Ever since I was a child, I took comfort in seeing the moon every night from my father's ship. It revitalized me and kept me happy. When I had endured those various tortures during my first months at the order, being unable to go outside had to have been the worse. Ever since that ended, I always kept my curtains open in order to see the moon and my beloved guardian, Tsukiyomi-sama.

I moved from my place by the fire and sat on the window seat, leaning my head against the cool glass and basking in the silver moonlight. I would get through this, I was going to make it, I wasn't going to die here, I was going to get back.

The click of the door being unlocked and opened caught my attention. I turned at saw Alma and Mikk.

"What?" I asked, my voice slightly hoarse.

"We'd like to know what's up with your innocence," Mikk said frowning, "It shouldn't have rebuilt itself, but it's done so twice now."

I shook my head, smirking, "I don't know, myself," I said, coolly, " Innocence isn't exactly a predictable substance. Even we're constantly trying to unlock its mysteries. Keep it mind, however, that my innocence isn't the only one that's rebuilt itself. I take it you remember Allen Walker?"

Tyki glared at me and Alma looked nervous, "Yeah, I remember, the damn fourteenth's host."

"Since I answered your question," I said slowly, "Will you, in turn, answer mine?"

Tyki looked at me for a second, then sighed, "Fine."

"Why are bothering to keep me alive? I've served your purpose, you have no use for me anymore and, if I remember correctly, the Noah are supposed to kill exorcists."

Mikk leaned against the door frame, "Well," he said, gesturing at Alma, "given that you're one of Alma's friends, the Earl granted his request that we keep you alive. Since we can restrict your innocence and kill you whenever we feel like it, the Earl didn't have a problem with letting you stay. He also hopes we can get some info out of you as time goes on."

"So he's waiting for me to suffer from Stockholm Syndrome?" Like that was going to happen, I'd suffered at the hands of pirates for weeks before escaping and I never submitted once.

"Well I'll admit, you'll be tough to crack, but only time will tell," Mikk said, turning to go and leaving Alma behind. I heard the faint click as the door was locked from the outside. I turned my eyes onto Alma, who looked away apologetically. I sighed.

"Alma, why are you such an idiot?"

He blinked at me, "Why do you say that?"

I laughed, "You're keeping me alive when you should just kill me. Thing's have changed, Alma, it's no longer like it used to be when we were kids. With the situation being what it is, I don't see how it will ever be that way again."

Alma looked at me sadly, "Just because you're an exorcist doesn't mean I automatically hate you," he said, "In fact, it's quite the opposite."

I stared at him. Was implying what I though he was implying? I swallowed nervously, "Alma…"

"I love you, Yoru," The words I absolutely did not want to come from his mouth, "I have ever since I met you. You were always so kind to me and even when I became a Noah I didn't see any hatred in your eyes! All I saw was pity, sadness, and even a little bit of fear."

"Don't analyze me like that," I said quietly, turning away from him. I didn't want this, I didn't want him. I had only ever considered Alma a friend, nothing more. Kanda…Kanda had always been that stoic presence that watched over me and he was the one I loved, not Alma. Alma was like my brother, I'd never considered him more than that.

"Yoru, I know this is weird for you to hear," No, don't hug me with those arms, don't comfort me with that voice. I tried to push him off, but he wouldn't let go, "I know love between an exorcist and a Noah isn't normal, but if you just give me a chance…"

"Out…"

"Yoru?"

"Get out," my voice was barely audible, "Please, don't say those things. I've always considered you like a brother to me. You were one of my closest friends, and I don't want that to change because of something like this."

Alma just looked at me, I could feel him doing so, but I didn't meet his gaze.

"So," he said, hurt evident in his tone, "I'm not the one you chose."

I turned to face him, "What are you talking about? All I said was that I didn't reciprocate and that, despite our differences, I still want to be friends. Why are you talking about choice?"

He smiled bitterly, "I can see it, Yoru, you love him, you chose him over me."

I looked at him confused, "What?"

He leaned against the wall next to the window and stared at the ceiling, "Yu must be overjoyed, he always liked you; though I never thought you'd like the jack-ass type."

I hugged my knees to my chest, "If you already knew, why did you bother confessing?"

He chuckled, "Because, I wanted to hear what you'd say," he slid down to sit on the floor, "I have to question your choice, Yoru."

"Why?"

"Are you only giving into him because you pity him? He won't live much longer, I know that much, so what are you going to do? You can't change the inevitable, so are you just going to find someone else once he's safely six feet under?"

I couldn't take it anymore. I raise my hand and slapped Alma so hard that he fell over.

"Alma," I said, my voice shaking with anger, "Never, EVER, suggest that again!" I seized him by the collar, "I love Kanda, I truly do, and it kills me that I will eventually lose him!" tears started to spill over my eyes and I released him, "But, I'd rather spend that short amount of time making him the happiest man alive than spend an eternity with an ass like you." I pointed to the door, "Get out! Give the order to kill me or whatever, just get out of here and never come near me again!"

Alma didn't say anything. He stood up and slipped a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door and left. Once I was satisfied that he was gone and I was alone, I sank to the ground, sobbing. What had I done? I'd let my temper get the better of me and had now lost the friend I had desired to see for so long. No, when I thought about it, that wasn't the Alma I had known. This Alma had been swallowed by the Noah and there was barely any trace of the old Alma left.

I slammed my fist into the window behind me, shattering the glass. Blood ran down my hand and began dripping onto the carpet. I ignored it and just let the wound close up, not bothering to clean up my hand or the broken glass. I lay back down on the bed and fell asleep. I'd plan my escape when I woke up.

_**Lenalee's POV**_

A scream broke through the silence of my room. I recognized it as Allen's and ran out of my room. When I reached his, I saw him on the floor, screaming bloody murder. I turned to Link.

"What's going on?" I was scared.

"He's changing," I turned to see the last person I'd ever expect to see standing behind me.

"GENERAL CROSS!!!" I exclaimed.

Cross went over to where Allen was shaking and whispered something in a language that I didn't understand. Next thing I knew, I was seeing some sort of wraith extracting itself from Allen's left eye.

"Wh-what is that thing" I asked, grabbing the wall for support. The wraith lunged at Cross, encircling him in a silver light. There was a rush of wind and when the light disappeared, Cross was no longer standing there. Instead, a tall, young looking man with chestnut hair that stuck out in the back was standing in his place.

I watched as Allen stood up, rather shakily, and stare at the man too.

"What did you do to my master?" I asked quietly.

The man turned to face him, "He didn't die in vain, Allen," he said gently, his voice light and kind, "He gave himself up so that you and I might both live."

Allen was silent, wide-eyed in shock. He sank to his knees.

"Allen-kun!" I rushed over to him. His shoulders were shaking as he sobbed, weakly calling for his master. I rubbed his back gently, "Allen-kun, I'm so sorry. He was like a second Mana for you, wasn't he?"

He nodded, "All I ever did was complain! Now he's gone!" I continued to comfort him to the best of my abilities, but he was heartbroken.

"Walker! Ms. Lee, why haven't you taken action?" I stared at Link, who had his crow weapons out, "This man is the fourteenth!"

The fourteenth sighed, "My name is Cain, for one thing," he said, "And I'm not going to hurt you, I'm going to help you."

"But you plan on becoming the Millennium Earl!" Link protested.

"And changing the ways of my clan," Cain said calmly, "We were not meant to act in such a way, it's not my fault that Adam became a second Lucifer and brought our name down to hell with him. I've tried many times to restore our name by combating him, but now I'm finally forced to join forces with God's apostles."

"Is this what master meant when he said that there was another side to this war," Allen seemed to have recovered.

Cain nodded, "Marian was very good to me, and I'm glad he took you in," he bent down and, smiling, placed his hand on Allen's head, "I'm glad I can finally speak with my son properly."

"SON?!" Three voices all cried at once. Cain laughed.

"Yes, Allen is my son that I was forced to abandon," he said, "I didn't expect you to be found by Mana, though."

Allen looked wide-eyed at the fourteenth. He was about to say something when Chaoji rushed into the room.

"It's terrible!" he cried, "Absolutely terrible!"

"What is it, Chaoji?" I asked.

"Kanda-senpai and Lavi-san are gone!"

_**Allen's POV**_

"WHAT?!"

"That idiot!" I cried, "He's probably chased after Yoru! And Lavi went with him? Those idiots don't stand a chance against all those Noah!"

"What exactly is going on?" Cain asked, confused.

I turned to the guy who just so recently claimed to be my father, "Kanda and Lavi are two other exorcists and they've gone after another who was taken prisoner by the Noah."

"Ah," Cain was pensive for a moment, "Well, though it is important to keep all of our manpower safe and alive, I think it'd be pointless to attempt to bring them back."

I rounded on him, "But what if they die?!"

He shrugged, "I think you need to have a little more faith, Allen," he said, "I saw them through your eyes and I know they're good fighters. Let's not forget also that the swordsmen took down the Noah of wrath on his own."

I sat down on my bed, defeated, "They better come back alive," I grumbled.

_**Kanda's POV**_

"Why did you come too?" I asked the redhead that was running beside me. He turned and grinned.

"I thought that it'd be good to record things from the view of an exorcist who went A.W.O.L."

"You're a damn bookman through and through," I growled, "We better hurry, or the ship will leave without us."

"How are we going to get passage without money?" the idiot rabbit asked, "We can't exactly accomplish anything if we show ourselves to be exorcists, we'll be hauled back before you can say 'innocence'!"

"Idiot," I snapped, "I already thought of that," I slipped out the rose cross badge from my pocket as we approached a waiting vessel, "Just follow my lead."

Lavi followed me up the gangplank of the ship. I had singled out this boat when we arrived because the crew was all Japanese, which would make bargaining so much easier, not to mention they'd be less likely to hand us over to the order.

I called out to a sailor in Japanese.

"_Excuse me!" _I said, _"Where are you headed?"_

The man turned to face me, surprised that I had spoken his native tongue. He looked like he was a few years older than me and had a vaguely familiar look about him. His long hair was tied back in a long ponytail and a bandana kept his bangs out of his eyes. He was slender built, but muscular, probably a very good fighter. If he were accommodator, he'd make a great exorcist.

He shouted back, _"We're heading to the coast of Portugal, right in the Straight of Gibraltar. Do you need a ride?"_

"_If it isn't too much trouble,"_ I replied as he approached, _"However, we can't pay you."_

He stared at me as if I were crazy and scratched his head, _"We don't normally give free rides unless it's,"_ he paused, averting his eyes, _"urgent."_

"_It is, but if you can't take my word for it,"_ I flipped out the badge, _"I'm going under cover with my friend here and I'd like you to cooperate with me as I am a member of the Black Order."_

He stared at my badge for a moment, then a broad grin spread over his face. He ran across the deck and through a door and out of sight. A couple minutes later, he reemerged with the person I presumed to be the captain. He too looked vaguely familiar, though I was sure I'd never met him. He took my hand and shook it rigorously.

"_It's a pleasure to meet you, young man!"_ he said, his voice booming, but kind, _"I'd be more than happy to take you and your fellow exorcist where you need to go!"_

He lead me and Lavi to a chamber in the stern of the ship. It contained two beds and held a lovely view of the sea. Lavi flopped down on his bed and stared at me.

"How did you do that?" he asked in awe.

I sat down on my own bed, staring out the window, "I think they're loyal to the Order," I said, "The captain knew we were exorcists and the badge seemed to excite the guy I spoke to first."

"Or they could be akuma," Lavi warned.

I shook my head, "I didn't sense the intent to kill in any of them."

"As long as you're sure," Bookman junior replied, rolling over and facing the wall, "I didn't any sleep last night because Bookman was making me read up on material until dawn, so I'm going to take a snooze."

"I'm going to take a walk around the deck," I said, "I'm going see if I can help out in any way. If I stay still for too long, I might break something." I was still fuming about Yoru's abduction and I was worried sick as well. Fresh air and the sweat produced from manual labor would help me keep my mind occupied.

I stepped out onto the deck, breathing in the fresh salt air. I approached the captain.

"_Excuse me," _I said, _"Is there anything I can help out with?"_

"My boy, I do happen to speak English," he said, smiling, "No need to be formal."

"Ah, I'm sorry," I said, "But, um, do you have anything I could assist you with?"

"I can't make an honored guest do work!" he cried, "Especially not one from the Order! You all have enough on your plate as it is!"

"Please, Captain…er…" I stopped.

"Ah, I never introduced myself," he said apologetically, "You can call me Captain Juken."

"Kanda Yu," I said, shaking the hand he offered me, "Though I tend to just go by Kanda."

Juken let out a booming laugh and clapped me on the back, "I like you, kid!"

"Captain Kuroumi!" someone called from the deck, "We're ready!"

Kuroumi?!

The captain gave the signal to cast off and we pulled out of the harbor. As we hit open sea and things on deck became more lax, I approached Juken again.

"Captain Juken?"

"Yes, my boy?" he asked.

"Your surname…is Kuroumi?"

He nodded, looking at me curiously, "Why?"

I swallowed nervously, I didn't want to tell him the details of what Lavi and I were doing, but I suppose telling one little factoid wouldn't hurt.

"I know your daughter," I said, "Yoru."

He blinked in surprise, then positively beamed. He called out to another sailor and gave him the helm. He led me down the deck and leaned against the gunwale.

"So, Kanda, how's my little girl doing?" he asked quietly, "Is she alright?"

I sighed. We had reached that question much sooner that I would have liked. I didn't want to tell him, but I didn't want to lie to Yoru's father, especially seeing as he could probably break me in half with those muscles of his.

After an awkward pause, I decided on the truth, "I honestly don't know what her current condition is."

"What do you mean? Is she out on a mission or something?"

I shook my head, "Captain, I'm going to be frank, the truth is that my companion and I aren't really supposed to be outside of headquarters. I've essentially gone A.W.O.L. and my companion's only coming because he wants to record what I do." I sighed again, "It's because Yoru's been captured by our enemies."

"She's been…what?" the captain had gone very pale, "Not my little fighter!"

I stared at the dark water moving beneath us, "I'm sorry, I was with her when it happened, but we were outmatched and I couldn't do anything."

"It's alright, boy," Juken said quietly, "My Yoru won't give in that easily, she's a trooper."

I laughed quietly, "You've got that right, and it still amazes me," I said, staring up at the now starry sky, "She's been through a lot and yet she still smiles and laughs like she's the happiest person in the world. I have to admit, I often questioned her sanity when we were younger."

Juken laughed, "She's not the type to stay down for too long."

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"Will you still take us to Portugal? Even though I've just told you that we're disobeying our superiors?"

"My boy, sometimes disobedience is necessary when it comes to getting results," he clapped me on the back again, "You go and get my daughter and bring her back safely to the Order. And hurry and wrap up this war, already! I'm getting sick of waiting for your damn higher-ups to send you all home!"

"Thank you," I then left to get some sleep.


	16. Port Negotiations Rescue Lectures

**An: I'm BAAAAAAACCCCCCKKKKK (Not that I was gone for very long) Anyway I've uploaded several chapters so I hope you enjoy!**

We made port about a week later. We were about to leave when I suddenly shoved Lavi back into the cabin, making him yelp in surprise.

"Ah! Yu, the HELL was THAT for?!" he cried, but I covered his mouth with my hand and gave him the sign to shut up.

"Shh! Mikk's at the bottom of the gangplank," I hissed.

He nodded and I let go of him.

"What do we do?" he whispered, "We have to warn Juken, but we can't go out there without drawing attention to ourselves."

"I have an idea," I said as I heard footsteps approaching, I pulled the sailor walking by into our room. Thank God he had the prudence not to yelp. I stared at him for minute, a little surprised.

"You're that guy I spoke to when we boarded," I said, "Sorry to do this to you, but-!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" the guy cut me off, "I knew exorcists were on our ship, but I've been in the galley most of the time, so I haven't seen you!"

"But I talked to someone who looked…" I stopped, realization had hit me, "Ah, you're one of the twins…"

"Yeah, the name's Yoite, you probably spoke to Ren," Yoite grinned, "I do all the cooking and Ren does more of the manual labor. Anyway, care to explain why you dragged me in here…and how you knew I was a twin?"

"I know your sister and she told me about you two," I said seriously, "Anyway, I brought you in here because that man Captain Juken is talking to is a dangerous enemy of ours. He needs to be on his guard," I gestured to Lavi and myself, "We can't afford to be seen by him, so can you let your father know? If you speak in Japanese, it should be fine."

Yoite nodded, then slipped out of the cabin. Lavi and I left the door slightly ajar and watched as the young sailor approached his father.

"_Dad!!"_ he called out, in Japanese, _"That guy you're talkin' to is very dangerous and an enemy of those guests of ours!"_

He kept his tone jovial and, though his back to us, I could tell he was grinning like an idiot.

The Captain responded, also in Japanese and in the same light tone, _"I got it! I'll get him to leave!"_

Mikk looked curiously at Juken and cocked an eyebrow, "Captain?"

"Captain Juken," Juken replied jovially, "And you're Lord Mikk, I presume?"

"Marquis," Mikk replied calmly, "Mind my asking what that was all about?"

"My son," Juken replied, "He get's very excited every time he perfects a new recipe and just has to announce it!" the captain completed the effect with a hearty chuckle.

"You don't have a wife or a daughter to help with the cooking, Captain Kuroumi?" Mikk asked. I cursed under my breath. Damn it, of course the marquis would know the surname of the captain bringing a shipment of silver to his port.

The Captain adopted a sadder demeanor, did he already have a way out of this?

"My wife passed away a few months after my boys were born," he said, sadly, "But she brought me two very healthy sons, so I'm happy. I never wanted a daughter and I still don't, I have my crew and my boys, so I'm content. Now, if my surname were less common, then life would be even better."

"Kuroumi is a common surname?"

"Oh, there's scores of them," Mikk was buying it! Keep it up, Juken!

"I see," Mikk suddenly seemed to have lost interest, "Well then, just take the shipment over there and you can be on your way after receiving your payment."

"Thank you, sir!" Juken said, waving as Mikk finally walked away. I crept out of the room and watched closely as Mikk mounted a carriage and left the port. I seized Lavi by the collar and pulled him out of the room. We hurried over to Juken.

"Thanks," I said quickly, "We've got to get going before we lose him. Please don't wait, I have no idea if we'll succeed or even how long it'll take."

Kuroumi nodded, "I've got it, go," he said seriously, "Make sure you do your best!"

I nodded and Lavi and I sprinted after Mikk's carriage.

After a while, Lavi and I found ourselves at a magnificent manor. We hid in the forest and began to think of a plan.

"Yu, we don't know if she's in there," Lavi said

"She is," I said, "I can tell."

"How?"

"Animal instinct," I said. Actually, I had caught a glimpse of her in one of the windows as we approached. We had to hide immediately afterwards, but I still managed to catch sight of the melancholy expression on her face.

"Good day, exorcists," Lavi and I whirled around to see Wisely standing behind us. I drew Mugen as Lavi gripped his hammer.

"Give her back, bastard," I growled.

"Hmm, maybe we ought to talk about this inside?" I glared at the white-haired Noah.

"Why the fuck would we do that?" I demanded.

"Such language," Wisely chuckled, "Quite like your little friend."

I gritted my teeth, "Answer me, damn it."

Wisely sighed, "Always right to the point with you, isn't it?" he shrugged as I continued to glare at him, "I don't see why you won't comply with a little talk. After all, it could save your friend."

Lavi whispered in my ear, "Do it, he's right, this could be the only choice we have."

"What are you whispering about?" Wisely asked curiously.

"Don't you already know, asshole?" I snapped, "You can read minds, can't you?"

"Normally, yes, but your redheaded friend is different," the Noah replied.

Lavi grinned, "Mind protection is basic for any bookman."

We stood and followed the Noah up and through the back door of the manor. He led us to a spacious bedroom and motioned to two three piece suits set out on the two beds adjacent one another.

"I'll come and fetch you in a few hours, please don't wander," Wisely left shortly afterward and Lavi and I just looked at each other.

"What now?" I asked, "This was your idea."

"We wait," Lavi replied simply, "Though we should probably get changed before he comes back."

"That won't be necessary," we turned to see the man I knew to be Mikk's brother, standing in the door, he held out a hand, "Sheryl Camelot."

I just glared at him.

"Come now, don't be so cold, especially when I have guests coming!" He said, "That's why I have those suits ready for you, but don't worry about changing yet, I'll send someone to assist with that later. In the mean time, please make yourselves at home here!"

"Where's Yoru?" I demanded.

"You'll see her soon, don't worry," With that, the door shut with a snap.

_**Yoru's POV**_

"OH HELL NO!" I said loudly, staring at what the maids were holding in front of me. It looked like a large black and purple circus tent, the shoes were equally ridiculous, with pointed heals and open toes. I shook my head at all of it.

"But it's an order from the lords," one of the maids said.

"I know I'm a prisoner," I said, annoyed, "But this is cruel and unusual punishment!"

"They also said that if you didn't cooperate, we could use force," another maid said, an odd gleam in her eyes.

"Wha…?" next thing I knew, I was facing the foot of the bed, my hands fastened to the footboard. Damn those maids were fast! My shirt was ripped off my back and my shorts had been thrown to the ground, leaving me in my underwear and that black strip of cloth I always used to cover and support my chest.

"We'll undo your hands if you cooperate." I sighed, nodded, and let the maids do there worst.

I stepped into a strapless silk slip and then the pain began. First was the corset, the maids took no liberty in tying the strings as tightly as they could. I gasped as my ribs protested and clutched the footboard of the bed until my knuckles turned white. Next came the hair. My long hair was pulled and pinned countless times before the maids were satisfied. I thanked the stars that my bangs hadn't been touched.

Finally, the dress came. I felt ridiculous when I looked in the mirror. I took a few turns around the room to break in the shoes and then heard a knock on the door. It was opened and I saw the last person I needed at that moment.

"Alma," I sighed, did it have to be him?

"You look stunning, Yoru," he said, a little stiffly, he obviously hadn't forgotten about our awkward conversation. He held out his arm, "I'm to be your escort."

"Right," I said, taking his arm and feeling very wrong while doing so. We walked down into a glorious ballroom and I was astonished to see the amount of people in it.

"Tyki's a marquis," Alma said quietly, "This sort of thing is normal."

I nodded, feeling very uncomfortable. Why on earth was I here? I didn't belong in high society!

"You may think that, but I'm sure you'll find something very interesting," I turned to see Wisely, whose name I had been told, standing behind us.

"Wisely, come on, not here," Alma reproached.

Wisely just shrugged and disappeared onto the dance floor. Alma led me through the various people, exchanging various pleasantries with them. It reminded me of the Alma that had gotten along with everyone at the branch and my heart sank. That little Alma seemed gone for good, now, replaced by a Noah.

I suddenly caught sight of Mikk and a head of all too familiar red hair. As we got closer, I said softly.

"Lavi?" said exorcist turned and beamed at me.

"You're okay!" he rushed forward and hugged me, "I'm so glad! You know who was going berserk! He was worried sick!"

"I see," I said confused, "Lavi, are you hear for bookman business? Are you switching sides?"

Lavi shook his head, "God no, gramps would KILL me, no I'm here to negotiate your freedom."

"Good luck with that," I poked Alma in the head, "He's annoyingly stubborn."

"Alma Karma," Alma stuck out his hand. Lavi took it awkwardly, wide-eyed.

"You're…that…" Lavi looked very awkward.

"Yeah," Alma relieved him of saying anything more.

"TYKI!!!" Road came out of nowhere and latched herself onto to Mikk, she was waving a very familiar cord in her hand, "Lookie what I got!!"

"Would you mind?" I turned to stare at the very irate voice coming from behind us. Kanda stared right back at me, shock playing all over his face.

"Yoru?" I nodded, tears of joy threatening to spill over my eyes. I was relieved when Kanda hurried forward and pulled me to him, wrapping me in his strong arms, making me feel safe.

"I missed you," he said quietly.

"Way to ignore an old friend, Yu."

_**Kanda POV**_

I stared at him.

"Alma?"

He nodded. I was speechless, he was alive and awake! I couldn't believe it and I had no idea what to say.

Then I saw Yoru behind him. She was making almost imperceptible movements with her hand. She gestured to Alma, then to her wrist, then to her forehead. It took me a minute to get what she was hinting at. Alma…her wrists…her forehead… how did they connect? Well Kanda could plainly see the dark matter restricting Yoru's innocence…but then…her forehead was the problem…how did Alma, dark matter, and a forehead connect? He thought harder as he continued in jovial conversation with Alma in order to distract his old friend from his pensiveness. Maybe dark matter wasn't it? Think! Yoru's wrist…what else…ah! The crosses imbedded in her skin! I thought again, making connections: Alma…Crosses…Forehead…THAT WAS IT!

The realization was saddening as it hit me. Alma…a Noah… I couldn't believe it. As my now former friend went on one of his reminiscing tangents, I cut him off.

"Alma," I said quietly, "What's it going to take for you and the others to let Yoru go?"

"Yu?"

"It's Kanda," I said shortly, "Now answer me."

Alms stared at me for a moment, then a sick grin came over his face, "So you figured it out?"

I nodded, "I don't want to be cold to you of all people, but please understand that…given what's happened to you…"

"I get it," He replied coldly, "Well at least we had a chance to chat before negotiations." He led us to a side room off of the ballroom. I was definitely meant for meetings, the long table and multiple chairs made that clear enough. We all took our seats and Sheryl Camelot took the head. Wisely and Road remained out in the ballroom to entertain guests.

Yoru, much to her relief as I could see, ended up next to Lavi. Alma and I ended up next to each other and Tyki exited to go keep an eye on his guests after Sheryl took the head of the table. He folded his hands and rested his chin on them.

"So, we all know why we're here," he said, "Now, exorcists, I'll get right to the point. Miss Yoru may leave, unharmed and innocence intact, on one condition."

"And what would that be?" I asked.

"The one of you must switch places with her. Your innocence shall be destroyed and most likely you along with it. Now, who will it be?"

I clutched Mugen tightly and looked at Yoru. She looked miserable. I could see that she didn't want this, but we had no choice. I began to speak, but Lavi spoke first.

"Can you let us think in private?" he said, "Yoru can get changed, while Yu and I deliberate."

"I don't see anything wrong with that," Sheryl and Alma rose. The former gestured to a folding screen, "I think you'll find something suitable behind there."

After they left, Yoru quickly changed into riding pants, boots and a white button down. We then sat at the table and thought things over.

"Guys, I can't-!" Lavi cut her off.

"It's alright, I've got a plan," Lavi said. We stared at him, wondering what the hell he was talking about. He quickly gave us the plan, to my surprise he spoke in perfect Japanese. The plan was risky and so much could go wrong, but it was our only choice, so we agreed.

The Noah reentered, this time it included Tyki, Road, and Wisely, "The guests are gone," Mikk said, "Have you decided?"

We nodded. Yoru was playing it really well with the miserable expression on her face. I walked forward, hold Mugen, sheath first, out to Mikk.

"I'll be the replacement," I said.

Mikk gripped the sheath and I grinned. He'd fallen for it! I yanked the blade out from the cover that Mikk was still holding and slashed at him, catching him by surprise and leaving a gash in his chest. He reeled backward and I saw Yoru activate her innocence. Yes! Lavi's convoluted actually worked! He had used Maruhi while his hammer was in its most compact form and had melted the dark matter ribbons to the point where they were only being held in back by a couple threads. All they needed was a little more stress and they would fall apart, allowing Yoru to fight.

Yoru and I both lunged, but stopped short when Lavi emitted a startled cry. We turned and saw him getting pulled through a gate that belonged to our ark. Suddenly, the all too familiar Crown Belt yanked me and Yoru through the portal. We collapsed onto the ground in a heap and I saw the door disappear out of the corner of my eye.

I saw Klaud helping Yoru to her feet and asking if she was alright. The head nurse then pulled her off to what I assumed was the infirmary. Of course, that woman was never satisfied unless she gave the diagnosis.

I suddenly felt a burning gave on the back of my head and winced as I saw an irate Komui and furious looking Rouvelier walking towards me.

"Kanda, Lavi," Komui said menacingly, "Office. NOW."

We both gulped. This wasn't going to be pleasant.


	17. An Awkward Sitiation

**Chapter 17:**

After Lavi and I got the hell lectured out of us by Komui, I headed to the infirmary to check on Yoru. She was somewhat malnourished (I had noticed that definitely looked thinner when we found her) and dehydrated, but unharmed otherwise. She would be back to normal in a couple days, but I was to leave her alone until then. I sighed, so much for my much needed quality time with her.

For several days I wandered the halls, reflecting on what had happened. Alma, a Noah, I couldn't believe it. I sighed again and tried to clear my head, but those unbidden memories of my childhood flooded my brain. Even more annoying was that reoccurring blank that popped up every time I tried to remember my life before I was found by Edgar and the others.

"You're looking a little lonely there," I whipped around to see who had disturbed me. A tall man with chestnut brown hair that stuck up in the back was standing in front of me. His stupid smile reminded me of the Moyashi, which I didn't like. I gave him my usual cold look and turned away. My head was starting to throb.

"Just thinking," I said offhandedly, wondering who the hell this guy was.

"Wow, didn't know your brain had the capacity to think," I turned back to glare as the Moyashi came down the hallway, "You're full of surprises, aren't you?"

I smirked, "More than you would care to know, Moyashi."

"IT'S ALLEN!! GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK HEAD, BAKANDA!!"

Zing! Epic win, right there. I inwardly praised my ability to send that brat over the edge.

"Allen…calm down," I heard the man say.

"I WILL NOT!" the brat cried, "He's been doing that since I arrived at the Order!!"

"You really need to stop spazzing, Moyashi," I said, "You're making my headache worse and I'm already pissed, so save your sorry ass by SHUTTING UP."

He backed off a bit after that. I sighed for the third time that hour and ran my fingers through my hair. I started to walk away when the brat suddenly called me back.

"Wait, Kanda," he said, annoyed, "I still have to introduce you."

"To…?" I said, equally annoyed and getting increasingly more so.

"My dad," I blinked at the Moyashi as he gestured to the man next to him, "This is Cain Walker, my biological father, and also the fourteenth Noah."

I blinked again, "So…he's our ally?" I asked cautiously.

Moyashi nodded.

"I see, well then," I stuck my hands in my pockets, "I'll be going. Go ahead with your father-son bonding or whatever the hell it is families do."

"Don't be like that!" the little monster protested, "Think back to your family! I'm sure you had lots of good times together!!"

I froze; Moyashi had crossed the line. I fixed him with my worst glare. I took pleasure in seeing him shrink back along with his so called 'dad'.

"Moyashi," I said darkly, "Perhaps I've had good times with my family, perhaps not, I honestly don't know. And you know why?" I asked menacingly.

He gulped, "Why?"

"Because I. Can't. Fucking. Remember."

"Kanda, stop," I spun to see Yoru looking at me from where she was leaning against a wall.

"Yoru…I'm sorry," I said apologetically, "You know how touchy that particular subject is for me."

She smiled and walked over to us, "Yeah, I know, and I know you've been frustrated lately, but you need to calm down. When was the last time you meditated?"

I scratched my head, "Dunno… probably the day before the Christmas party."

She sighed, "There's your problem," She pushed me toward my room, "Go meditate and relax for a bit, then train to get rid of all the stress, okay?"

I smirked, "Alright, doctor, but I'll be expecting a house call later, I need to talk with you."

Her expression darkened for a moment, she knew what I meant, "Alright, I'll see you later!" With that, I left.

_**Yoru's POV**_

I waited for Kanda to disappear before turning to Allen.

"Sorry about that, Allen. You know how he gets," I said apologetically.

Allen shook his head, "Yeah, I know he's an antisocial bastard, but what did he mean when he said he couldn't remember?"

I looked at the ground sadly, "Kanda's been suffering from some sort of amnesia ever since he woke up in the Asia branch nine years ago."

"Does this have to do with those experiments?" I blinked at him.

"How do you know that?"

"I saw Kanda's memories a while back during the attack on the North American Branch. I haven't talked to him about it, nor have I told anyone else."

"I appreciate that, Allen," I said gratefully, "I'd like to keep this information between us. And to answer your question, yes, I do know the experiments wiped his original memories. He doesn't like to talk about it, though, because he gets frustrated easily."

"I think it's good he has you around, Yoru," Allen said, "You can keep him calm."

I blushed, "Ever the gentleman, aren't you?"

"Yeah…oh!" Realization crossed his face, "Let me introduce you!" he turned to the man standing behind him, watching quietly, "This is Cain Walker, my-!"

"I know, the fourteenth and your father," I said, holding out my hand to him, "Pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine," Cain took my hand and kissed it, making me blush again. It was easy to see where Allen got his manners from.

"So can you go on missions now, Yoru?" Allen asked me.

I shook my head, "Not yet, the head nurse said I needed to get back into my routine before being dispatched again. That reminds me, Komui wants you to report to his office."

"Thanks," Allen and Cain hurried off, while I headed to Kanda's room. I knocked and a muffled, 'it's open' let me in.

Kanda rose from the meditation area and motioned for me to sit next to him on the bed. He planted a soft kiss on my lips before speaking.

"Something's not right with you," he said bluntly.

"I'm fine," I said, I didn't want to talk about my discussion with Alma. That indeed was bothering me, but I didn't need Kanda to worry about it.

He glared at me. Then roughly pinned me to the mattress and straddled me while holding down my shoulders.

"Don't lie, Yoru," he growled.

"Get off me, Kanda," I said warningly.

"Not until you tell me what happened with you and Alma," he knew. I tried to throw him off, but I was still weak and he held me easily.

"Fine!" I said, annoyed, "But let me sit up!"

He got off of me and I sat next to him again. I felt very awkward.

"H-he confessed…" I said, not meeting my lover's gaze.

"WAHAT?!" Kanda cried, "What did you say?"

"I slapped him because," my voice caught in my throat, "because he said I only chose you out of pity."

Kanda stared at me, shock evident in his features. His dark blue-black eyes bore into my deep violet ones, then he hugged me tightly.

"You and I know that's not true," he murmured.

I nodded, then started crying, clutching Kanda's shirt as I sobbed, "I…just c-can't take it! Why d-does h-he have to be a N-Noah?! H-he was o-our f-friend!"

Kanda kept me wrapped in his strong embrace, stoking my head as he did so, "I know…it'll be alright…we'll find a way to get the old Alma back, okay?"

I nodded as he wiped the tears from my eyes and kissed me again.

There was a knock at the door.

_**Kanda's POV**_

"Who the fuck is it?" I snapped. Who the hell had the AUDACITY to interrupt my much needed personal time with Yoru?!

"It's me, Bakanda," Of course, the Moyashi…he was soooooo dead.

I grabbed Mugen and pointed it in Moyashi's face as I opened the door. The white-haired brat shrank back.

"W-Watch it with that thing!" he stammered.

"Kanda, must you traumatize everyone who annoys you?" Yoru sighed, ducking under my arm and exiting the room. Just before she made it out, I swept my arm around her waist and placed another kiss on her lips. As she pulled away, blushing furiously and obvious shocked that I would do something like that in public, I smirked.

"Remember," I said fiercely, "What he said wasn't true, okay? Don't ever think he was right, even for a second."

She nodded, then headed back to her own room. When she was out of sight, I turned to the dumbstruck Moyashi, "What the fuck did you want, Moyashi?"

He seemed to snap back to reality, "Oh, yeah, Komui has a mission for us. Get ready, we leave in half an hour."

I nodded, then threw on my uniform, packed, and said a quick goodbye to Yoru before meeting Moyashi at the entrance to the ark. We were headed to China so we just went through the Asia Branch.

_**Allen's POV**_

The mission went relatively smoothly and we collected the innocence without much incident. We stopped at a tea house on the way back and I finally got the guts to confront Kanda about what had happened back at Headquarters.

"So…Kanda," I said slowly.

He glared at me, "What, Moyashi?"

I twitched, "It's Allen."

"Do I care?"

I sighed, "Anyway, are you and Yoru…you know…together?"

"Yeah," I choked on my tea at his bluntness, "Why do you care?"

"Well…it's just…surprising…no one expected her to go for you…even if you are friends…"

The damn samurai glared at me again, "She happens to prefer the quiet-type," he said, "And she doesn't care how possessive I get, either."

"I can't believe how open you're being," I said, amazed, "It's not like you."

He shrugged, "You're the one who asked about us, Moyashi."

"It's Allen!" I cried.

"Again, do I care?"

I sighed. A scream rang through the busy street outside and my left eye began going crazy. We could hear bullets in the distance.

"AKUMA!" I shouted.

_**Kanda's POV**_

The Moyashi and I sprinted outside of the teahouse to see five level threes attacking the villagers. The brat took the first two and I engaged another pair, the last one began charging a group in the street. I could see the huddled form of a child among them and pushed myself toward them, using the explosion of the akuma I'd just taken down for momentum.

I couldn't make it in time, so I took the bullet. My blood spatter onto the pavement as I doubled over in pain. The akuma who had shot grinned maniacally.

"Ho! An exorcist? That was very unwise wasn't it?" he sneered, "That virus will kill you in a moment!"

I laughed, standing up straight and cursing as my wound screamed in protest. It wasn't that bad, I told myself, just a graze to my side. I wiped the line of blood that had trickled down my mouth and grinned up at the surprised akuma.

"How are you still alive?!" it demanded. I just continued to smirk and lunged, slicing the bastard in half and landing neatly on the ground. I turned back the group that had been attacked and knelt down in front of the kid.

"You okay?" I said, not exactly kindly considering I didn't like being sappy like that and plus I had a rather annoyingly painful gash in my side. I breathed heavily as I felt a slight burning sensation and the wound closed.

The girl looked vaguely familiar, but I was convinced I'd never seen her before, so I ignored it. I was a little disturbed by the fact that she just kept staring at me, though. I straightened up.

"Seeing as you've currently lost your ability to speak…" I trailed off. The girl was wearing a kimono, and a high-class one at that. I switched languages, _"I'll be going, then."_

I turned to leave, but she grabbed onto my coat.

"Wait."

"So you do speak English?" I said, slightly annoyed.

"I'm sorry…it's just…I haven't seen you in so long and I missed you!"

I blinked, "Kid…what on earth are you talking about?"

"Brother…it's me! Kaguya! You're sister!"

I blinked again, "I-I'm sorry, but…I think you're mistaking me for someone else" I said slowly, "I…um…don't know you…"

Tears brimmed and threatened to spill over her eyes, "But…I'm positive you're him! You're my brother, Yu!"

I stared at her, speechless. She knew my name…could she possibly be speaking the truth? I had no memories other than that stumbling through a forest while my life's blood drained away and my life at the Order. I tried to find words, but nothing came. I shook my head, trying to clear my mind.

"Look," I said, slowly, "I'm not…not quite sure what to say at this point…" I paused, trying to collect my thoughts, "But…suffice to say…God! this is hard," I ran my fingers through my hair, trying and failing to put my words in order. I was saved by Moyashi showing up.

"Kanda, we got to go," He said, smiling at the girl, "Hi there!" She waved a little hesitantly. Allen turned back to me, "Anyway, Kanda, Komui wants us back ASAP, we really ought to go."

I nodded, still thrown by the encounter with the girl. She looked to have been around twelve years old and had blue-black hair like mine. She could have been…but I had no idea.

We headed back to the branch and thus back to headquarters.

_**Yoru's POV**_

Kanda related the incident to me what had happened with the girl in China. To be honest, I was just as dumbstruck as he was. I couldn't even begin to fathom the possibility that Kanda would run into his real family while working for us…though I suppose it wasn't completely impossible.

I shook my head, "Kanda…I really don't know what to think at this point…but…maybe it's better that you don't remember."

He nodded, "Considering the inevitable…I think you're right. Besides," he swung his arm around my waist, "Since I don't have much time, I want to make what I've got left worthwhile."

I smiled and leaned my head against his shoulder, "It's surprising how romantic you can be."


	18. Called Out! Make Preparations

Over the next few months we gathered up a ton of new accommodators. They all learned quickly, but we were always pretty busy helping our masters with training, so Kanda and I didn't get much time to ourselves. My eighteenth birthday came and went, Lenalee's seventeenth came and went as well. I was starting to see developments between her and Allen, though they always kept their relationship no more than friendly in front of Komui. Cain was proving to be a valuable asset as well, his ability to control the ark completely made missions shorter and faster.

Other than Allen and Lenalee and Kanda and myself, other couples seemed to be forming among the exorcists. Marie and Miranda seemed to be together a lot and I even thought that Zokalo and Klaud were becoming a little more than just friendly (I prayed I was wrong).

Lavi was a different story. He seemed to be pretty moody lately and he was becoming more antisocial by the day. He wasn't the same idiot he'd been when I met him. I decided to ask another exorcist I thought might know what was going on.

Aven Brandt, a Irish-German exorcist about a year older than me, had become my fellow student under Klaud Nyne and we'd quickly become close friends. Aven and Lavi had gotten along really well ever since he found out she was just as obsessed with history and reading as he was. She was also an avid writer and they enjoyed going over her manuscripts together. Of all people, I thought she might know what was up with him. One day, after training, I decided to ask.

"Aven," I began, "You're pretty good friends with Lavi, right?"

"Yeah," she replied, "Why?"

"Do you know why he's been so weird lately?"

He face fell, "I don't think he wants me to tell anyone…he especially doesn't want Bookman to find out."

"Aven, we're the only ones in the bath right now and it's not like the old man's going to come in anyway." It was true, the bath was deserted except for the two of us.

"Alright, but you have to promise not to tell anyone!" she warned.

"I promise."

She sighed, "Bookman's been on Lavi's back recently because he's been spending so much time with me. Lavi already told me he loves me, but we have to hide it from the old man because if he finds out that Lavi hasn't been able to discard his emotions, he'll haul him out of here."

"Is that why he's been so aloof?" I asked.

She shook her head, "No, Lavi's innocence has been acting weird lately. He can feel his synchronization rate going up and he's worried about becoming a crystal type. If that happens, it means that he's grown too attached to his innocence and Bookman said that if Lavi showed any signs of becoming like you and Lenalee, they'd leave immediately." She looked down sadly, "He doesn't want to go, he really likes it here, having friends, spending time with me, being a normal emotional human being…he doesn't want to give it up! And I don't want him to leave either."

I was shocked, to think Bookman would be so strict with his apprentice. I thought for a moment.

"Has Lavi considered giving up on being a bookman?" I asked, "He could always be a normal historian and that way he'd still have his emotions."

Aven nodded, "Yeah, he has, but he's grown attached to Bookman. He's like a grandfather to him. Still, at the rate things are going, he's more inclined to give up his position and just become a normal person."

"I think it'd be better if he did give up on being a bookman. Not having emotions, especially when he's our age, just isn't right."

She nodded, "Can I tell him that?"

I smiled, "Of course! And tell him how you feel too, okay? He needs to know that he'll still have people who care for him even if he leaves Bookman."

She smiled back, "Thanks, Yoru, you're the best."

"Don't you forget it," I replied, grinning.

A couple weeks later, there was a commotion. Aven, myself, and several others went to see what was going on. We saw Lavi and Bookman standing apart from each other like they were part of a Mexican stand-off. Lavi looked angry and hurt and Bookman looked just plain livid.

"I thought I told you to come to me before something like this happened!" the old man said furiously, "Now look at you!"

Bookman pointed to Lavi's hands. The same crossed that decorated my wrists and Lenalee's ankles now stretched from the base of his wrist to the middle joint on his middle finger, a red ring adorned each of his ring fingers. We understood now, Lavi was a crystal-type.

The redhead glared at the old man, "I didn't come on purpose, old panda," he growled, "Because I'm through."

"You're what?!" Bookman demanded.

"You heard me," Lavi replied, "I'm not going to be a bookman anymore!" a shocked murmur ran through the small crowd that had formed, "I'm sick of not being allowed to have emotions or do what I want! I can't take it anymore!"

"What happened to your opinion of human's being a foolish race that could only wage war?" Bookman growled.

"I only said that to keep you off my back!" Lavi cried, "The truth is that I actually enjoy being here, having friends and interacting with people! I want it to stay this way! I want to fight with them! And," He pulled Aven into him, "I want to spend time with the girl I love!"

"LOVE?!" Bookman cried, "You shouldn't even be capable of something like that!"

"Oh really," Lavi smirked and pulled Aven into a deep kiss. She was blushing furiously when he finally pulled away, looking like she was going to pass out.

"What do ya call that?!" Lavi demanded.

Bookman looked at Lavi, bitter disappointment spreading across his face, "You had such promise, boy." He murmured, walking away, looking as if his heart had been broken. Lavi's face fell and he reached out a hand, as if wanting to pull the old man back, but thought better of it.

Aven placed a hand on his shoulder, "It's alright, he's just a little upset, Lavi," she said gently, "He doesn't hate you."

Lavi nodded and the two of them walked off together. I returned to my room and flopped down on my bed, staring at the ceiling. Things were becoming more and more intense, it seemed like only a matter of time before something major happened to us.

_**Kanda's POV**_

If there was one person I hated among the new recruits, it's have to be that bastard, Delano Marino. The newest addition to my group was this Italian jackass who insisted on getting on my bad side, which he did within his first week. The bastard wouldn't stop hitting on Yoru! MY girl, MINE!! I wanted to knock him into next week!

"Bonjourno, Kanda!" speak of the jackass. I turned to glare at the Italian as he came down the hall.

"The hell do you want, Mariano?" I growled.

"Aw, don't be so cold!" I was so going to throw the guy off of a bridge, "I just wanted some advice!"

"What?" I snapped.

"Look…I really like this girl and…I want your help," was he seriously asking me if I would help him get with Yoru? FAT CHANCE!

"Why should I help you? You've been hitting on MY girl ever since you got here!"

"I know, Ms. Yoru has explained that to me, already, but I only hit on her so Emilia will notice me!"

"Wait…EMILIA?!" he was talking about that Galmar girl? I was stunned into silence as he shifted uneasily in front of me.

"S-so, can you help me? I mean, could you tell me how you and Yoru got together?" his nervousness irked me.

"Look, it was a different situation with Yoru," I said, "She's been my friend since we were kids…" I paused, thinking trying to think this through, "Just tell her, okay? It won't hurt you that badly and then you can move on if she doesn't like you! Now don't bother me anymore." With that I stalked off, I was sick of the sappy couple crap.

I have no idea if he ever confessed, but he left Yoru alone and that was all that mattered to me.

A couple days later, Yoru and I were spending a rare moment together when Komui called everyone to the dining hall. I noted the heavy atmosphere as we entered.

"Something's not right," I said quietly.

Yoru nodded, "The air in here is suffocatingly tense," she said.

Komui was standing on a table, trying to grab everyone's attention.

"Everyone! I have very grim news," he said, seriously, "The Earl has officially called us out."

Everyone was stunned into silence, then an uproar broke out through the crowd as everyone began fighting over what to do. Komui called their attention back by setting off a loud screech from all the golems hovering about the place. Everyone clutched their ringing ears until he turned it off.

"Now that you've all calmed down," he said, "I'd like to inform you that, especially with all the talent that I've seen over the past few months, we are indeed planning to accept this challenge. It is our only chance to face the Earl in open combat and our only chance to bring the Noah down all at once. However, even just one mistake could cost the destruction of the entire Order, so we need to plan our every move! I would like the generals, Allen Walker, Lavi, Bookman, Kanda Yu, Kuroumi Yoru, Lenalee Lee, and Cain Walker to come to my office immediately!"

Yoru and I looked at each other. She just shrugged and we headed off to the Chief's office.

_**Yoru's POV**_

We all stood around Komui's office, not knowing exactly why we were there. Well, that was only true for Kanda, Allen, Lavi, Lenalee, and myself, the generals, Bookman, and Cain were there to help with planning, that much was obvious.

Komui sat down and looked hard at all of us, "Generals, Bookman, Cain, I'm sure you all know why you have been summoned here. As for the rest of you, it might not be as clear." He removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Lavi, Lenalee, and Yoru, you all have the highest synchronization rates outside of the general class. I am promoting you all to the newly created Colonel Class."

The three of us blinked in surprise. A new status? That was certainly something. We bowed our thanks and Komui opened his mouth to continue.

"As for Allen and Kanda," he said, "Allen, your synchronization rate is above 100%, thus meeting the requirement for General Class and you also possess valuable leadership skills. Kanda, your synchronization rate is exactly 100%, though that does not meet the General Class requirement, it doesn't change the fact that you also have exceptional fighting skills and, even though you never really chose to show it, your IQ is second only to Lavi's and your leadership and planning skills are top-notch."

Everyone stared at Kanda, who just glared back, "What?" he demanded.

"HOW CAN YOUR BRAIN BE SECOND ONLY TO MINE?!" Lavi cried, "THE WAY YOU ACT NO ONE WOULD GUESS THAT!!"

"Hey!" he protested. Yes, Kanda was actually very smart, but he hated showing it, he let Alma have the intellectual spotlight instead. The excuse he always gave me was that 'thinking took effort, so why bother?'

Komui cleared his throat and we focused on him again, "Kanda's closet intelligence aside…"

"Watch it, Komui," Kanda growled.

"Both he and Allen shall be named as our two new members of the General Class."

Allen's jaw dropped and Kanda nearly fell off of the edge of the desk (which he had been leaning on) in dumbstruck surprise. Unable to find words, the two of them just bowed. Tiedoll suddenly burst into tears and hugged Kanda so tightly his face began to turn blue.

"MY-MY YUUUUUUUUUUU!!! A GENERAL!! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!!!" he sobbed as Kanda fought to get air into his lungs.

"Tiedoll… damn it… can't…breathe," he gasped. The general quickly let go of him and continued sobbing his happiness. Cain pat Allen on the back.

"That's my boy," he said, warmly, "Marian would have been proud."

Allen nodded, smiling gently, "I can't believe it," he said quietly, "I just can't believe it."

Komui clapped his hands, "Now that that's settled," he said, "Let's get down to the planning business. Lenalee, you and Bookman will be in charge of planning the aerial attack."

"Yes, sir!"

"Allen and Cain will be in charge of planning out how to use the ark as our defense."

"Yes, sir!"

"Kanda, Lavi, and Zokalo will plan the land assault. Don't let your tempers get the better of you."

"Yes, sir!"

"Yoru and Klaud will plan the naval assault. Yoru, this is where your vast knowledge of ships will come in handy."

"Yes, sir!"

"Tiedoll, find Miranda and the head nurse! The three of you will be in charge of medical care."

"Yes, sir!"

"Good! All of our forces are at our disposal! I have maps of the battle ground for each of you, use anyone you need: finders, exorcists, anyone! And get to work! We go to war in a month!"

"YES, SIR!"

The next few weeks were spent planning. I mainly commanded the naval unit with Klaud's help because she wasn't exactly experienced in sea combat. I was glad to have Chaoji, Kie, and Maosa with me because they were all experienced seamen. I had many other seaworthy finders and a good supply of long-range exorcists who would help protect the ships from being fatally damaged.

Our unit worked tirelessly with the land and aerial units to form the perfect strategy for engaging the enemy. It was especially important that we work with Lenalee, seeing as the land and sea units didn't want to get hit by stray attacks from the air.

Allen and Cain worked with Tiedoll, Miranda, and the head nurse. The ark was to be used a stronghold for the land and air units to standby until it was time to fight. It was also going to be our medical headquarters. Cain could control the ark to the extent that whenever or wherever we needed a gate to the ark, we could have it. This meant we could get immediate emergency medical attention to the wounded on the battlefield.

With all of our plans in order, we prepared to move out and face the Earl and his clan for the final time.


	19. This is War, This is God's Grace

**An: Getting Closer and Closer to the End. There Will Probably Only Be a Couple More Chapters After This.**

I leaned against the wheel and stared at the wooden floorboards under my feet and exhaled deeply. I was anticipating the fight ahead. I stared up at the crescent moon above and ran over the plans in my head. My ship, along with those being captained by Klaud, Kie, and Maosa, were to lead the three Naval units in an assassination assault on the Earl's rear forces. We were currently lying in wait for the signal to begin out attack. I was nervous and excited and terrified all at once. I was also somewhat depressed. Who would live after this battle? Who would win? Who would die? Who would lose? I closed my eyes and prayed, prayed for everyone's safety, not bothering to pray for my own.

"Colonel," I looked up at Delano, who gestured to the dark shapes of Akuma ahead of us. I nodded and made sure my wireless was hooked up properly, the signal ought to come soon.

"Everyone," I spoke quietly into the wireless, "Ready your weapons."

There was a muffled shuffling as everyone took their stance. I took a deep breath and waited. Static came through the wireless first, then someone spoke.

"Naval Units, have you reached your target?"

"We're all set, Komui," I replied.

"Good, it should only be about another minute."

"Got it," I waited, listening the muffled commotion that had been going on for quite some time already; the land and aerial forces had begun the assault a while ago. Suddenly a bright red light, almost imperceptible among the exploding Akuma lit up the night sky.

"NOW!" I gave the signal for the unit to move forward. We came up silently behind the flanks of the enemy and made our move.

_**Kanda's POV**_

I had lost track of how long we'd been fighting. It seemed like forever, just slashing and destroying. We were making excellent progress, though, cutting our way through the hordes of Akuma and steadily making our way to the Earl and his lackeys.

I saw the flare rise up and listened. Through all the noise around me, cut through the commotion of our surprise attack. I grinned maniacally as I cut down the Akuma in front of me. YES! Our little navy was hitting them hard from the rear.

All was going amazingly…until…

"NOAH! LOOK OUT, KANDA!" I was just in time. I blocked the super-charged blades with my sword. I glared at the person who had once been my closest friend.

"ALMA!!" I roared, lunging and slashing at him. He dodged, glaring at me as well.

"So I'm saddled with the defective second?" he said tersely, raising his hand, from which protruded the blades, "Shouldn't take too long to dispose of you."

Though I continued to glare at him, it wasn't with the intensity I normally glared with. In fact, I felt depressed, rather than angry, why had he fallen so hard?

"Alma…What happened to you?!" I yelled, grazing him with Mugen, "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU LIKE THIS?! THIS ISN'T YOU!"

He didn't respond. We entered into a furious exchange of blows that seemed to last forever until finally Alma cried out.

"BECAUSE OF YOU DAMMIT!" we broke apart and I froze.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You always, ALWAYS, got the better end of everything," he said bitterly.

"What the hell? You think I got the better end?!" I demanded.

"I KNOW YOU DID" Alma screamed, then quietly, "You were able to become better friends with Yoru, you got her in the end!"

"Alma! Is that really a reason to-!"

"NO! You also synchronized with the innocence, you got to have friends! You, you got to go outside! You got to engage in the real world for a long time. Even worse, YOU'RE A HUMAN BEING!" I was looking at the old Alma, the child that would cry over the slightest insult. He looked like he was going to collapse. He hugged himself.

"You…I was always so jealous…" he said, so quietly I almost couldn't hear him, "Being human means that you have a family somewhere, even if you can't remember them. Being like me, grown in a tank, you don't have that." He looked at me sadly, "You have no idea what it's like…that emptiness. It's why…I got so angry when I found out that you even had a second family. Yoru, your friends in the order, all of them. All I have is the Noah and it's not the family I want! I'm still lonely because I don't have you and Yoru with me!"

My face fell as I stared at the shaking figure before me. I never would have guessed, that under that smiling façade, was all that darkness. I sheathed my sword, knelt down, and placed my hand gently on his shoulder. Then, as he looked at me with tear-streaked eyes, I did something I never thought I'd do again.

I smiled, genuinely and warmly. It wasn't my usual condescending smirk, I was smiling for the first time in nine years.

"Alma," I said gently, "Why don't we stop?"

He looked at me, confused, "What do you mean?"

"Stop fighting with each other, right here, right now," I said simply, "We know well enough from the past that our little skirmishes never end well."

He nodded, "Yeah…but the Earl…"

"The fourteenth works for us, you know," I said in a matter-of-fact tone.

He nodded again and gave me a watery smile, "I'd rather fight for you than against you," he said weakly.

I smiled again…wow it felt weird. We stood up and I spoke into the wireless.

"Everyone, we've got a new ally," I said, "Alma's back on our side."

I heard a cheer come through and I gave Alma the thumbs up. We headed back into the fray after that. We both fought furiously and I saw the Moyashi out of my peripheral vision lunge forward, ahead of almost everyone. He went up against the Earl himself.

_**Yoru's POV**_

Our unit stormed the beach and brought down rank upon rank of Akuma from behind. It progressed well for quite a while, then I was confronted by a Noah. I dodged the attack and moved to using my scythe.

"Mikk," I spat as the man grinned.

"Long time no see."

He lunged, I swung, and the battle progressed like any normal one would. I didn't say anything during the fight, just concentrated on killing the man.

"This is boring," Mikk said, playfully, "Say something!"

His playfulness was a mistake. I lunged forward a landed a gash on his chest. Blood poored from it and drenched the ground. Mikk fell to his knees and shook as his blood drained away. I gave him a cold look and raised my scythe above his head.

"I'll be merciful and end it quickly," I said, swinging down the blade to take off his head. Shock played across my face as his hand blocked it. I stared as I saw black blood run down the bastard's hands.

"What the…?" I watched in horror as the man stood up, his long hair unbound and cascading wildly over his back and shoulders. The feral grin he gave me sent shivers down my spine. This…thing…is wasn't human, it was a monster.

I had to use my arms to shield my eyes from a rush of wind. When I lowered them, Mikk looked drastically different. He looked like one of the mosters you read about when you're a child. Before I could do anything, something wrapped itself around my throat. Unable to get air into my lungs, my innocence deactivated and I clawed at the substance around my neck.

Mikk swung me into the ground and I felt a sickening snap as my spine broke. Anyone else would have died instantly, but I let out a gasp of pain as the vertebrae repaired itself. The substance gripping my neck had loosened a bit and I just lay where I was, panting, unable to summon the energy to use my innocence.

The Noah glided over to me and held me up for inspection. First shock, then a look of utmost satisfaction spread across his face when he saw that I was still alive. He swung me over and over again, gradually getting more and more frustrated as I kept regenerating. I was on the verge of passing out and I wanted it to end. The pain of almost dying and then regenerating was becoming unbearable.

_MASTER!! USE YOUR MAXIMUM INVOCATION!_

_Meibatsu…_

_MASTER YOU CAN'T DIE!! NOT HERE! NOT NOW! WHAT ABOUT THOSE PEOPLE WHO BECAME THE REASON YOU FIGHT?!_

My eyes snapped open. He was right, I needed to fight. I got on my hands and knees, then yanked at the material around my throat with my activated innocence. I cut my neck rather badly in the process, but I broke the tendril and the wound repaired itself quickly. I stood up and concentrated, pushing my innocence to it's limits.

A black sword materialized in my hand and a giant hell-cat appeared by my side.

"The outside world is quite interesting, master," it said.

"MEIBATSU?!" I cried in shock.

The cat nodded, "This is what a proper maximum invocation should look like for a crystal-type," he said, "but now is not the time, master, we must hurry."

I nodded and lunged at Mikk. I swung the blade and a sickle of black energy launched itself at the Noah. Meibatsu came from the side and tackled him as it hit. We continued on in this way and Mikk was losing badly.

A bright light erupted in the sky. My innocence began to glow and I saw the same happening with the ring of crosses on Mikk's forehead. I looked at Meibatsu.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Meibatsu looked overjoyed, tears of happiness spilled over his eyes.

"Father…is calling us home," he said, his voice breaking.

"W-what?" I suddenly blinded as the light flashed intensely. I fell to my knees and felt as if the energy was being ripped out of my body. I lost consciousness shortly afterward.

When I came to, I was staring at a starry sky. I sat up and noticed that I wasn't wearing my uniform. I was clad in a sleeveless white shift and I was barefoot. My hair was loose and the crosses that were once imbedded in my hands were now gone.

I heard a faint groaning and saw Mikk sitting up and rubbing his head. He, too, was clad in white and the Noah mark was gone from his forehead. He looked at me and, seeing that I was awake, walked over and offered me a hand up.

"What happened?" he asked as he helped me to my feet.

I shook my head, "I don't know," I said, looking around. Everyone, Noah and Exorcists alike, was either on the ground or in the process of getting up. They were all wearing white.

_Master…_

_Meibatsu?!_

_Yes. Master… I am going home, but I will explain things first._

_Please._

_The Earl is gone and the Noah have been absolved of their tainted genes. All the exorcists have been relieved of their innocence as well. Young Allen had the heart and he used it well. The Akuma have all been returned to their original human selves and those whose lives were claimed by the Noah have been returned to the earth. There will never be another war like this, the dark matter had been destroyed and the innocence fragments are returning home to our Father. And regarding Kanda Yu and Alma Karma._

_Yes?_

_Kanda has his memories back and the curse on his life has been lifted. He is like you now, able to regenerate, but his life is no longer in danger._

_That's amazing!_

_That's the grace of God._

_Thank you for everything, Meibatsu, I'll miss you!_

_And I you, master._

Tears threatened to spill over my eyes. I hastily wiped them away and turned to Mikk.

"I don't suppose you heard that?" I said.

He nodded, "Yeah, but in a different sort of way… to think we'd lose to the boy," he said, chuckling. I couldn't help but smile slightly at his light-heatedness. I was seeing the real, human Tyki Mikk, not the cold blooded murderer I had known him to be. Considering all that had happened, it was a welcome change.

"Hey," he said, shifting uneasily, "About four years ago…"

"Forgive and forget?" I held out my hand and he shook it.

"Yeah."

"YORU!!" I whipped around to see a figure running toward me. As it got closer I recognized the face of one of my fellow students.

"Sol!!" I cried, running forward to meet her. The Spaniard smiled brightly and pulled me over to where Klaud and two other very familiar faces, Tina and Gwen. I waved energetically at them and we exchanged hugs, tears of happiness brimming my eyes.

_**Kanda's POV**_

I looked down at the blade in my hands. I no longer sensed Mugen's presence, it was just an ordinary blade now. Still, I was determined to keep the memento by my side.

I sank to my knees as a overwhelming weight surged through my head. Images whirled through my mind as the suffocating pressure intensified. Realization dawned on me as I realized what I was seeing. I felt tears come into my eyes as my memories came back to me.

"Yu…you alright?" Alma said, placing a hand on my shoulder. I looked at him and grinned.

"Yeah," I don't know what prompted me to do it, but I started laughing, really laughing, "Yeah! I'm great!"

"Are you sane?" he asked, staring at me, "I've never heard you laugh this hard."

I just laughed even harder, "Of course I'm sane! Why wouldn't I be?!"

"MEDIC!! KANDA'S GONE NUTS!!! HELP!!" Alma shouted, making me gasp as I kept laughing. I felt elated, like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I had my memories and I knew, I don't know how, but I knew that my healing powers were no longer a threat to my life. I was ecstatic.

After I calmed down I took a good look around. Aven had tackled Lavi and they were making out passionately on the sandy ground. Lenalee ran to the Moyashi and he caught her and swung her around, finally kissing her. Yoru was with her master along with her senior students. The sight of her smile made me glow inside. I couldn't really explain it, but it was if I was feeling like my real self in nine years.

"OY!!! KANDA!!!" I turned to see Marie and…Daisya! He was waving frantically at me as he sprinted over.

There was an overall feeling of joy and relief on the battlefield. As the golden sun rose over the horizon, it seemed as if the world heaved a giant sigh of relief.

The war was finally over.


	20. Home Again At Last

**An: This is the last chapter, but there is a short epilogue afterward, so make sure to read it!**

I knocked on Yoru's door and was thankful that she opened it quickly.

"Hey there!" she said jovially, "You all ready to go home?"

"Yeah," I said, shifting uneasily, "Yoru…we're going to have to bag on our original plan…"

She gave me a confused look, "Why? I thought we were going to Nagasaki together, and then you'd head home for a bit after resting a couple days. Are you worried about Alma? He's staying with Bak and Zhu, isn't he?"

I shook my head, "It's not that, Yoru," I said, "It's just not the best decision for me to go to Nagasaki. My family has enemies there."

She blinked at me, "Oh…I see," she averted her eyes, "You haven't exactly told me anything about them," she mumbled.

"It's really complicated," I said, "And I don't have time to explain right now. I'll be heading to Nara if you ever feel like visiting, okay?" I tilted her chin up and was about to kiss her when she pushed me away.

"What do you mean you don't have time?" she asked, annoyed, "No one leaves until tomorrow!"

"I have special permission to leave early," I said, sighing, "There's a lot of pressure on me to return immediately."

She turned away, "I get it, have a safe trip," I could hear the hurt in her voice and pulled her back, placing a soft, but firm kiss on her lips, holding her in a tight embrace. I inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of oak and lilies that always seemed to hang about her.

"Yoru," I said, quietly, "I promise, I'll come for you, okay? I know I want to be with you and I'll never want anyone else. I promise, I'll come."

She kissed me this time, her arms around my neck, "You better." She said, leaning against my chest, "Or I'll never forgive you."

I smiled, "I know," I gave her another kiss and headed to the ark. I was boarding a ship at noon from Shanghai and I couldn't miss it.

When I reached the harbor, I still had an hour to kill before I had to board the ship, so I meandered through the boardwalk, thinking. I owed an apology and explanation to Kaguya, that was for sure, and I needed to discuss some important things with my father as well. I sighed, a lot needed to be done, I prayed Yoru would wait until I was done.

"Yu-dono?" I turned around to see a Japanese man in his sixties. His white hair was pulled back into a long low ponytail. His mustache and goatee twitched in a smile as he saw that I recognized him.

"Tanaka-sensei!" I said, walking over to him. He bowed deeply, wow, it'd been a while since anyone had done that to me. It made me feel a little odd as remembered my status. I didn't let it show, though, the son of one of the top samurai families in Japan would never show his discomfort.

"Young lord, I'm glad you're alright!" Tanaka said as he beamed at me, "What on earth happened to you? What have you been doing? And what's that uniform?" he stared at my exorcist uniform. It had been decided that everyone would wear the uniform upon returning home.

"It's a long story and I'd rather have to explain it only once," I replied, "I'll tell you now that I've been fighting for the Black Order all these years."

"Ah! The Black Order! Very impressive, your father will be proud!" Tanaka exclaimed.

"Though this may sound heartless," I said, "I'm concerned with seeing Kaguya again. I owe her an apology."

"Yes, her ladyship mentioned something about seeing you in China, but she said she must have been mistaken because you honestly looked like you didn't know her."

"Yes, I'll explain all that when we get back," I replied.

"Very well, the ship is waiting for you," Tanaka said, gesturing to a ship a few yards away, "Shall we depart?"

I nodded and headed up the gangplank.

We arrived in Nara about a week later, where I was greeted with much fanfare and celebration from the citizens. When we reached the manor I took a breath, mentally preparing myself for what awaited me inside.

The doors opened and I saw the men under my father's command kneeling before me.

"Welcome back, young lord," the all cried in unison.

"I'm back," I replied in the dignified tone that was expected.

My father came forward and I knelt before him. I heard him chuckle and place a hand on my shoulder.

"No son of mine is required to kneel after he's been missing for almost ten years," he said, "Now rise, Kirihara Yu, we have much to talk about."

I nodded and rose, following my father into the manor. We entered his study and he placed both hands on my shoulders. I noticed that I was almost his height now.

"Look at you!" he said proudly, "Alive and well! I'm so glad, I didn't know what to think when Kaguya said she'd seen you, but now…" he trailed off.

"Father," I said, "I would like to apologize to Kaguya, I didn't mean to upset her, but I wasn't in the right state of mind when I saw her in China."

He nodded and motioned for Tanaka to go a fetch my little sister. When she came in, I smiled at her.

"Long time no see, Kaguya!"

She rushed forward and hurled herself around my wais with a cry of "ONISAMA"

I knelt down and hugged her, "I'm sorry about what happened it China, Kaguya," I said.

"I was so confused," she said quietly, "I knew it was you, but you didn't seem to recognize me! Then that white-haired boy called you Kanda so I was even more confused!"

I chuckled, "It's a rather long and confusing story, Kaguya," I said, "But now that I'm home I can explain the whole thing to you, Father and Tanaka-sensei."

"Please do," my father said as he sat behind his desk, "I was convinced you were dead, but here you are, safe and sound. What on earth happened? How did you come to join the Black Order?"

I told them everything, about the experiment, losing my memories, becoming an exorcist, everything. I left out my romance with Yoru, though, for prudence's sake.

"So…you lost your memories because of experiments done on you and a priestess?" my father said, slowly.

"Yes, but everything was made up for," I said quickly, "I don't hold any grudges for what was done to me." _And I don't want you to_, I added mentally.

My father sighed, "As long as you're alright, I'm alright," he said, "I'm more worried about the fact that they went so far as to do such heinous things to a priestess. However, that's not my business, what matters now is that you're home and we need to celebrate!"

I smiled and nodded, "It's good to be home," I said happily.

_**Yoru's POV**_

I inhaled the salty air as the ship left the harbor, waving at Alma, Zhu, Bak, Lenalee, Cain, Cross, Allen, and Komui, who were all standing on the dock, wishing me goodbye. I had already said my farewells to Klaud, and the others, having promised to visit Aven and Lavi when I got the chance.

We docked in Nagasaki and few days later and I sighed as I my feet touched the ground. As nice as it was to be home again, I had a very heart-wrenching moment ahead of me.

I straightened the sword hanging on my hip (A parting gift from the science department) and caught a glimpse of my father's ship docked a little way down the harbor. I headed over to it. The entire vessel was deserted, meaning my father and the crew were probably at the inn where they usually spent their time right after coming home from a shipment. I walked along streets, feeling steadily more depressed as I got closer to the inn. I saw my father, brothers, and the crew all sitting in the dining area, having a round of beer. A typical after-work scene. I smiled slightly, I could tell they weren't expecting me yet. We had had favorable wind the entire voyage and had arrived two days early.

I pushed open the door and the hostess, Mayu, began to give me the usual welcome as she turned toward the door.

"Welcome to the-!" she stopped and stared at me, recognition spreading across her face, "Good lord! It's you! Yoruko!"

I laughed as my father choked on his beer, whirling around to look at me. He grinned and made to rush forward and give me a hug, but the twins beat him.

"Yoru's back! Yoru's back!" the cried, hoisting me on their shoulders, "Our little exorcist sister is back!"

Amidst many congratulations and cheering on the crew's part, I told my story. When I described the incidents involving Mikk, being a P.O.W., and the experiments, they all got very quiet. I felt anger and indignation throughout the entire tavern and before they could speak I added hastily.

"But I'm not angry, nor do I hold any grudges," I said, "What happened, happened, and I honestly don't care. I'm here, I'm fine, so there's no need to be angry."

My father let out a booming laugh at that and dispersed all of the tension, "That's my little trooper!" he said, proudly.

When I had had enough of celebration I turned to my father, "Is mother still at the shrine?"

He nodded, "You know how it is for her," he said, "She sees it as her duty to tend to Amaterasu's shrine 24/7."

"I'll go see her then," I said.

"Alone?"

I nodded, "Yeah, alone, I need to talk to her in private."

I father nodded back, "Alright, I'll see you later tonight."

I smiled and was about to leave when the door slammed open. A young man with a handsome face and wind-swept hair panted as he cried.

"Is it true?! Yoruko's back?!" he demanded. I sighed as I recognized him.

I waved at him, "It's been a while, Haru," I said, noncommittally. I honestly didn't want to see the prick right now.

He ran forward and embraced me, "Oh, my darling priestess! You've returned! It's been too long!" he cried.

"Yes," I said, bowing respectfully, "But if you'll excuse me, Nakamura-dono, I must go."

"You're too cruel!" Haru said, "There's no need to be so formal with me!"

I ignored him and left the tavern, heading to the long flight of stairs that were marked by the Tori arch. I took a deep breath before mounting them. When I reached the shrine, I removed my boots and slipped into one of the pairs of waiting house slippers. I took a look around the dimly lit shrine and saw my mother kneeling in prayer. I knelt and waited until she was finished. When she had done so, she turned to me.

"I see you're back," she said, disapproval evident in her voice, "You were gone far longer than I expected."

I met her gaze steadily and related everything to her. When she heard about the experiment she became white with fury.

"Those sacrilegious monsters," she hissed, "To do that to a priestess!"

"Mother, I'm not angry, I'm just glad that the one who has my powers isn't going to die because of them," I said, desperate for her to understand.

"Well what's done is done," she said, "No point in dwelling on it," she was still angry. She gazed steadily at me, "You haven't forgotten my instructions have you?"

I shook my head, "No, as I promised," I said, sadly, "I will not sail with father anymore. However…"

"What?" she snapped.

"I will not be taking over the shrine from you," I said, meeting her livid eyes, with my own cool expression, "I will also not be marrying Nakamura Haru. I know full well you had your heart set on me doing both of those things when I returned, however, I only agreed to never setting sail with father again, nothing more. I will make my own decisions from here on out."

I felt a stinging sensation as my mother struck me across the cheek.

"UNGRATEFUL CHILD!" she cried, "THE GODS GIVE YOU POWER AND YOU WILL NOT USE IT FOR THE PEOPLE?!"

"I HAVE BEEN USING MY POWER FOR THE PEOPLE!" I shouted back, "I FOUGHT AS AN EXORCIST REMEMBER?!"

"THAT'S NOT THE SAME!" She shrieked, "YOU CAN SEE THE SOULS OF THE DEAD!! YOU CAN HELP THEM REST IN PEACE!!"

I gave her the same cool expression, "Mother," I said calmly, "I have made my decision and if you will just listen, I think you might approve."

She glared at me, "What?" she snapped.

"I will do my duty and put the souls of the dead to rest, but I will travel around Japan in order to do so. I will not be able to remain sane if I'm cooped up in a shrine. I need to be physically active in order to perform my duty. Can you really complain about that?"

My mother sighed, "I suppose not…but what of a husband? Haru-dono is a wonderful young man."

"That I barely know, mother!" I said exasperatedly, "I don't love him!"

"But he can provide for you!"

I shook my head, "No, mother, I'm sure he's wonderful, but he's not for me. I'll marry when I'm ready, okay?"

My mother threw up her hands in defeat, "Fine! You can stay and rest for a week! Then you set out on your mission!"

I sighed and agreed. A week later I purchased a horse and set out on my travels. I ended up in Nara a few weeks later as I had planned and began to search for Kanda. Don't worry, I preformed my duty of putting restless souls at ease simultaneously.

"Yoruko?" I turned to see Haru staring at me. He grinned, "It's you!"

"What are you doing here?" I asked in surprise. Great, just great.

"We're here to congratulate the return of the heir to the Kirihara family," he said, looking annoyed, "They're our enemies, but it's for formality's sake."

"I see," I said, "Well, then, don't let me keep you." With that I walked away, glad to be rid of him.

I wandered about for a few hours when I saw a crowd and went to investigate. I couldn't really see anything, so I eavesdropped on the girls in front of me.

"Isn't he gorgeous?" one said.

"Yes! I can't believe how handsome the Kirihara heir is!"

Oh, just the Kirihara guy. I started to walk away when they said something that caught my attention.

"Oh I wish Yu-sama would pick me as a bride some day!"

Yu?! I forced my way through the girls and gaped as I saw that it was indeed Yu. He was clad in high-class garb and riding a magnificent charger. Our eyes met and I blushed furiously and shrank back. Suddenly scared, I turned and ran.

_**Kanda's POV**_

"Wait!" I called out as I saw Yoru make a break for it. Why was she here?! And why was she acting like that?! It was just me!

"Yu, who was that," My father asked curiously.

"A close friend from the order," I said evasively.

"How close is close?" he demanded.

I didn't look him in the eye, "We're lovers…" I said, uncomfortably.

"Then why did she run?"

"I have no idea," I said sadly.

"Go after her."

"WHAT?!"

"you heard me," he said, "Go after her, I can tell she's one of those girls that only appears once every dynasty! GO!"

I galloped after Yoru's retreating figure. I knew was a sprinter and much faster than I was on foot, so I was dismayed when I was forced to launch myself off of my horse and follow her through a narrow alleyway. I pushed myself to my limits and finally caught her by the sleeve of her yukata.

"The…HELL…Yoru!" I gasped as I held on tightly to her sleeve, "You KNOW I can't keep up when you run!"

She didn't say anything, but looked at me like a frightened deer (ironically enough, there were a few to keep us company at that moment*). I saw tears threatening to spill over her eyes and wiped them away.

"Is it because of the whole Kirihara thing?" I demanded.

She nodded.

"Are you scared that I would reject you because of our class difference?"

Again, she nodded.

"Oh, Yoru," I hugged her tightly and kissed her firmly on the mouth. After a moment I pulled away, "Didn't I tell you I'd come no matter what? I want to be with you and only you, okay?"

She nodded, hugging me tightly, "I missed you," she said quietly.

I stroked her hair, "Me too…but why aren't you in Nagasaki?"

She told me about her agreement with her mother and how she'd managed to twist to her own gain. I was shocked by the strictness of Yoru's life as a priestess. I didn't let go of her as I whispered.

"Come with me?"

She looked up at me in shock.

"You can perform your duties here," I said quickly, "And you'll be able to practice with the other samurai and…" I paused, "we can be together."

She smiled warmly, snuggling against my chest.

"I'd like that.

*** Nara is famous for the deer that wander around. You can actually go around a feed them! ^-^**


	21. Epilogue

**An: I was writing this and the chapter before this, I was listen to Need You Now by Lady Antebellum. I dunno why, but it really seemed to fit *shrugs* anyways, here's the epilogue! Hope you enjoy!**

**Now that I've finished this...it feels kinda lonely...I SHALL WRITE ANOTHER!!! AND IT SHALL BE YAOI THIS TIME!! !!!**

**Epilogue:**

Yoru was welcomed with open arms into the Kirihara family (much to Haru's dismay). She and Kanda were the first of the exorcist couples to marry. They are currently raising their twin boys, Ren and Hideki.

Aven and Lavi married about a year after Kanda and Yoru. Lavi opened the world's first Library of Hidden History, in which bookmen could store their records. They are currently tending to Bookman in his old age and raising their daughter, Heidi. They have a lovely countryside home in Ireland.

Allen and Lenalee married much to the surprise of everyone considering Komui's temperament towards his sister. Lenalee is currently pregnant and Komui is eagerly awaiting the arrival of his niece. They are living in London.

Klaud and Zokalo ended up marrying and now have two kids, Alexis and Leon. They now live in St. Petersburg.

Miranda and Marie returned to Miranda's German hometown where they were wed without incident. They are now running a clock and music shop while caring for there son, Ivan.

The former Noah clansmen all ended up conducting their human lives normally. Tyki ended up adopting Eaze and happily provides for him in his home in Portugal. Road, still in child-form, is happily re-growing up under Sheryl's roof.

Alma, Zhu, and Bak all happily run a tavern in Shanghai. They are very successful and get frequent visits from Yoru's family when they bring shipments over.

All in all, things are peaceful and the former-exorcists were able to enjoy their lives to the fullest.

_**Fin!**_

**_So...yeah...it's over and I hope you enjoyed it! Thank so much for your support and reviews!_**


	22. Notice

**Important Update to All Readers**

So, I'm happily settled into college, and working hard to build my major and get through my classes. It is understandable, therefore, that finding time for writing fanfics is a little difficult. Even so, I do have a couple in the works -or reworks. I'm going to write/finish/finalize work for the following series: The Betrayal Knows My Name (because I haven't finished even one version yet), D Gray-Man (because I owe it to myself), Bleach (because I have a fun plot line I'd like to work with, and I've never actually gone very far with writing for Bleach before), and _maybe_ Naruto (if I can keep the idea in my head long enough). As per usual, these will all have some version of my OC Kai, and other OCs will play parts in these fics as well (expect repeat performances from the names Haru, Akira, and Ren). I would like to stress, though, that this is not for lack of creativity, but for lack of energy to create any more new characters, especially when I fear I might bring in OCs from my book. That's right, folks, I'm writing a fantasy novel (I mean it, an actual novel with its own original plot and everything -holy sh*t, right?) and it's taken priority over writing with other people's characters. Still, every author needs a break from her own creations, and I consider working with "stock characters" a good break. That's why I will keep writing fanfiction for now. I do plan to finish each of the aforementioned stories, but updates will be slower, and it will take longer to get them done. All I ask for is your patience, and for you all not to be too hard on my when I hang up the long-term fanfiction hat permanently, which I will do when I finish the fanfics I've promised. I say long-term, though, because I may come back with a few shonen-ai oneshots every once in a while.

The long-term fics I am writing are final drafts of the following already published stories (sorted by series):

_( D Gray-Man)_

In Memoriam

Bound by the Symbol of Kegare

Forced Forbearance

Give Me a Reason

_(Betrayal/Uraboku)_

It's Just a Looking Glass

Where Hell Is a Good Thing

_(Bleach)_

Faded

These are the working titles for the upcoming fics, along with the intended pairings (subject to change):

_(D Gray-Man) _

Life Worth Living- KandaxOC (Maybe, it could end up just a friendship between the two of them).

_(Betrayal/Uraboku) _

Black on Black- LuzexOC (I'm actually really excited for this one)

_(Bleach) _

Security- OCxOC (heterosexual); OCxOC (homosexual) (Another one I'm pumped for)

_(Naruto)_

Fine Line- GaaraxOC (again, I may not write this. The idea isn't fully formed yet and I'm not as invested in the series as I once was).

I've already said it, but I'll reiterate: these are FINAL DRAFTS. If I haven't already completed them, I will NOT be finishing any of the already published stories that the finals are based off of. For that matter, I will not be finishing any other incomplete fics either. I simply don't have the time or inspiration.

As always, I appreciate your support. I won't delete my account, nor will I delete any previously written fics, as they serve as a reminder of how much I've improved as a writer. I hope you all will appreciate the new work coming your way. Nothing makes an author happier than receive feedback on her work. Thank you again, and I hope you're all excited for what's to come.

Feel free to message me with any questions!

~H


	23. Chapter 23

Please go to my account profile and read what's there- IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT.


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